Fire Emblem: Tales of an Angel
by Lady Starwing
Summary: co-written with I.K.A.Valiant. Lloyd is pulled through the Otherworldly gate eight years after ToS ends, and winds up at the Dragons Gate. His appearance causes an upstart, and things change swiftly for everyone else involved ... ToS2 non-existant.
1. Prologue

_Co-written and beta-ed by I.K.A. Valiant. Neither of us own anything but the idea for the story._

* * *

Fire Emblem: Tales of an Angel

Prolouge: Through the Gates

* * *

Lloyd Irving-Aurion stood at the edge of a small island, staring out at the waters before him. He was now twenty five, and for the past eight years had been traveling about the reunited worlds – which had been christened Aselia by the Church of Martel – making sure that all of the Exspheres in the world had been destroyed. He no longer carried swords, mainly because there was no real need to. The monsters all but vanished with the fall of Cruxis. The people who opposed him were often overruled by their fellows who held him in high esteem. The use of force, where before it was constantly necessary, now seemed like a relic of the distant past.

He had aged as well; Lloyd now stood at the same height as his father. What little baby fat that he possessed at seventeen was now gone, leaving a stern, hard face in its wake. His eyes were still the same color they always were, but there was an odd wisdom to them that not many would have expected for such a young man. His brown hair gained a slight red tint and began to obey gravity's call to fall past his face, framing a gentle, if confused expression.

"Why am I here?" Lloyd asked himself, glancing at the elegant stone rings that composed the Otherworldly Gate. "This thing hasn't been working at all ever since the worlds were joined again …"

Lloyd rose from where his spot and strode slowly over to the enormous stones. With the mid day sun blasting full power onto their surfaces, he examined the markings as he passed each stone.

He came to a stop when he reached the center of the circle. Lloyd looked down at the spot where he and his friends had once fallen through to Sylvarant. He knelt ran his hands over the soft, loosely packed earth.

"Now it's just a circle of rocks in the middle of nowhere." Lloyd stood and was about to leave the ring of decaying rocks when his sense picked up something odd in one of the stones.

Puzzled, Lloyd stepped towards it, and gasped lightly. One of the runes engraved on the stone was glowing. Iridescent blue-green light flickered in the sunlight.

"No way …" Looking back up at the sun, Lloyd said, "This can't be right. The gate shouldn't be working at all, let alone in _midday!_ Besides, what place is there that can be connected to the Otherworldly Gate now that Sylvarant and Tethe'alla are back together?"

Just as the question left his mouth, Lloyd felt the ground beneath him give way to a bright, glowing vortex of convoluted light. The feeling of ground beneath his feet disappeared. Lloyd wobbled and wind milled his arms as he attempted to stay upright.

"The hell?!" Lloyd shouted. He attempted to spread his wings and launch into the air when a force grabbed onto his feet. The force pulled him downward faster and faster until he was through. As he was pulled downward through spiraling energy and light Lloyd watched the hole he'd fallen through close up.

After what felt like hours, Lloyd suddenly discovered gravity again. He landed on a hard, flat surface and quickly looked up at the vortex he'd just been spit out of. Dragon statues and great blue-green flamed torches framed the shrinking vortex.

Lloyd pushed himself to his feet, his boots slipping on the stone, as he scrambled back toward the vortex. His fingers found the wall of rock that replaced the vortex just as he reached it.

"Damn," Lloyd said. He spun around and examined the new surroundings. "This … is _definitely_ not part of Aselia …" He just put one foot forward when an intense throbbing and white stars exploded behind his eyes. He quickly wrapped his hands around his skull as the pressure within skyrocketed. "Augh…" he groaned as he slumped to his knees. As the darkness around the corners of his vision grew, he struggled to stay upright.

"Why … am I so … tired …?" He uttered before his body went slack and he fell the rest of the way to the floor.

A cloaked figure stepped from the shadows and with an even pace moved to Lloyd's side. He stooped and stuck a hand out of his black robes, his skin paler than a pasty white powdered doughnut. With a single finger, the man pushed on Lloyd's shoulder and immediately snapped his hand back. Smoke rose from the suddenly blackened finger that touched Lloyd.

"I must inform the master," the man said. "This is most unusual." The man stood and quickly walked away from Lloyd, his golden eyes glowing past the hood of his cloak.

* * *

"Most interesting." Athos, the Archsage known around the realms as the Living Legend, locked his gazed onto south-eastern horizon. He was not known for staring at one thing for long, and yet that is what he did now. Intently he stared, as a researcher stares at a subject of interest.

"What are you looking at?"

Without turning to look, Athos reached an aged, wrinkled hand back and waved the person behind him forward. He stretched that same hand forward and pointed at the horizon.

"Do you not see it Pent?" Athos asked.

"See what," said Pent. He squinted his eyes as he gazed at the mid afternoon horizon, holding up a hand to shield his eyes. The sun shone brightly from the east, casting growing shadows to the west as the blazing ball of light fell from its apex. "I see nothing but blue skies and clouds Master Athos. Perhaps the desert has impaired your vision."

"There is a great life force on Valor," said Athos. His voice was distant, his eyes unfocused. "So great it lights up the skies with the pureness of its composition."

"On Valor…" Pent raise his right hand to hold his chin and supported his elbow with the other hand. "Isn't that the Island of Dread, Doom, Despair, and other such nonsense the locals have named it?"

"It is indeed," said Athos. His lips curved upward and his cheeks bulged slightly as he held in a chuckle. "But … it also happens to be the home of the Dragon Gate."

Pent lifted his chin and gazed southward again. "Is this life force a threat?"

Athos shook his head. "It's too early to tell. The Interloper hasn't done anything right or wrong to be judged by. We'll just have to watch and see."

* * *

"So this is the one who the Dragon's Gate spat out," said Nergal. He reached up and scratched the skin around his concealed eye, beneath his turban. He was flanked on either side by the man with the burned finger and a scantily-clad woman with her arms crossed over her chest. Both the man and the woman had their golden eyes roving over Lloyd's unconscious form. Nergal's visible eyebrow arched as he stepped forward and held his hand over Lloyd's head.

"Oh, yes," said Nergal. His scarred face twisted and a grin appeared. His uncovered pupil shrank until it was a mere dot amongst a sea of white. "Such an enormous amount of Quintessence! Haha, with this, I can move my plans forward by three years! Hahahahahaha! Mwahahahahahahahahahaha!"

"Master," the man held up his burned finger, "It appears…"

"Oh be quite Ephidel," said the woman, "one burned finger does not pose a threat to our Master."

"True as that might be," said Nergal, "It is no mean feat to injure a Morph such as one of you just by merely touching one another." He lifted his hand away from Lloyd and clenched it in front of his chest. Veins popped out as he flexed the muscles in his arm. "So much… I must have it all!"

Nergal threw out his both his arms. His cape flew backwards as the air became thick and sticky. Nergal's face lit up as he began to draw out that which he sought from Lloyd. Only the red essence he'd come to expect did not appear.

"What!?" Nergal became overwhelmed when instead of the Quintessence he had been expecting, pure white Mana emerged from Lloyd's body, glowing brilliantly. Nergal was enveloped by the quickly expanding white cloud. "No!" He choked out before beginning to cough from the purness of the energy emitting from Lloyd's body.

*Cough*

*Hack*

"This is impossible! Quintessence so aligned with light that it actually became light!" Nergal turned away from Lloyd, drawing his cape around him. The white Mana continued to emerge. The woman and Ephidel backed away from the white mist as it neared them. Nergal coughed again into his hand, his shoulders heaving from the movement.

"Where are you going Sonia?!" Nergal demanded. "Ephidel, come back here! I command you."

"Master Nergal, we'll die," Ephidel said. He took another step backwards, his cloak billowing behind him.

"Damn this boy," Nergal said. "Damn him and his Quintessence." He turned back to Lloyd and threw his hands out again. "If I cannot take it, I shall send it away!"

Nergal made several signs with his hands, moving them back and forth in front of him. Several lines of magic formed and traced themselves into existence beneath Lloyd's body. In quick succession, Nergal brought his hands down, the circle formed by the magic lines lit up, and Lloyd disappeared.

"Good riddance," said Nergal. He bent over, his back heaving as his body was racked with a coughing fit. "Damn that boy. His was a Quintessence unlike that of normal beings." Nergal coughed again, though his chest was rising and falling easier now. "I must look into this. In the mean time, Sonia, speed up our plans in Bern. I need strong Quintessence now!"

Lloyd's first sensation when his mind came back to him was frigid cold. On his skin, in his hair, and more importantly, in mouth. He quickly spit out the cold substance. When he looked to see what it was he ejected, he found snow and not just the snow from his mouth, but all around him.

Lloyd's arms flexed as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He glanced right, then left. Snow fell from his hair with each movement, reminiscent of the snow falling from the branches of the evergreen trees surrounding him.

"Where am I now?" He asked himself. Standing slowly, Lloyd felt a shiver run down his spine and across his chest. He looked down and found that his clothes were drenched completely through. His grim expression grew worse as he remembered that his bag was back at the Otherworldly Gate.

"Gah… damn." He turned around and noticed a light in the distance. It was faint but steady. He had taken less than ten labored steps through the knee high snow when he fell again into its cold embrace. His wet clothing already contained a layer of frost over it as the cloth froze stiff.

"Damn…" Lloyd said, spitting snow from his mouth again. "And I thought Flanoir was bad." Lloyd lifted his head from the snow and twisted it to the right and then to the left. "No one's here. Screw walking, I'm flying."

He began by calling up his Mana needed to summon his wings. To his horror, nothing happened. "What the…" Trying again, Lloyd felt his body become cooler yet as a cold sweat broke out across his body.

"How could I lose my wings?" Lloyd wondered briefly.

He was about to try again when he heard a voice calling out in the distance. Sitting up, the brunet saw a man wearing thick wool robes lined with fur waving at him. Confused, and yet filled with the hope of rescue, Lloyd forced his freezing body to stand and walk through the snow towards the man.

His teeth chattered, his legs went numb, and he couldn't move his arms anymore. Still, through all the stumbling and effort, he made the journey. Upon reaching the man, Lloyd was grabbed by the arm and pulled into a small shrine.

"Thank Saint Elimine you made it out of there alive, sir!" The man removed his robes to reveal a plain white monk's habit. As he flitted about the small shrine, he went on, "There is a fierce blizzard rolling into the area. If you hadn't arrived when you did, you would've been lost. You do not want to be caught in an Ilian blizzard, mark my words!"

The man found what he was looking for, expressed by the surprised happy face he made as he lifted a bundle of cloth into the arms. "Oh, some dry clothes!" He extended a set of dry clothes to Lloyd.

Lloyd, hands numb and arms shivering, reached out a shaky hand and grabbed the bundle. Though he was considerably warmer now, he was still shivering. The monk pointed to a door. Lloyd quickly got the idea and scampered into the small room to change.

When he walked back out, Lloyd found the monk working over a warmly glowing fire. The smell of food was in the air and it made Lloyd's mouth water. He also realized that he hadn't eaten since the night before in Aselia. Put simply, Lloyd was hungry enough to eat a Noishe sized steak.

Lloyd quickly found a bowl set out on a quaint table near the stove. He dove for the stool and claimed the bowl, wrapping his arms around it. As he waited, he glanced about and noticed a small statuette of a woman above the fireplace. The figurine's long blond hair and the staff she held were aglow from the fire below.

'Martel?' Lloyd wondered. He stood and walked closer to stare at the statuette. 'Could this be Martel?'

After a moment's contemplation, however, he shook his head. That man mentioned someone named St. Elimine. Lloyd turned to ask when his eyes caught sight of a folded piece of paper. He opened his mouth to ask his question when his mind recognized the paper as a map.

And not a map of Aselia.

"Where…?!" Lloyd whispered. His eyes widened as his legs automatically drew him closer to the piece of paper. His movement caught the monk's attention.

As the smaller man rose up and moved to join him, Lloyd finally said, "I think I'm really lost here … Where am I?" The monk stared up at Lloyd with a confused expression, his brow creased. He then pulled the map from the shelf it sat on, turned, and spread it out on the table.

"This is a map of Elibe, sir." The monk explained. He moved his hand across the well crafted map, gesturing to the landmass that indeed looked like nothing Lloyd had ever seen. Lloyd nodded, memorizing the map in his suddenly very active mind.

Lloyd watched the monk pointed to a northern piece of the continent. "The place we are at is called Ilia, near the southern border mountain passes. The passes are all blocked off with snow and ice this time of year, however, so if you wished to go anywhere, you would have to sail north." The monk pointed to the north and then dragged his finger across the map to the left.

"Now, to our west is Etruria, with the islands Caledonia and Ferbinia beyond them." Nodding again, Lloyd logged the names into his memory. The monk's finger shifted and drew a line down the map. "This is the desert land of Nabata, and to the east of that is the Lycian League. Beyond Lycia's southern border and a mountainous barrier, lays the kingdom of Bern."

"I see…" Lloyd nodded, making a mental note to head for Bern as soon as possible. He swore he heard someone called Nergal yell at a woman named '_Sonia_' to head for that place. 'That Nergal person was probably the guy who brought me here…' Lloyd thought.

Lloyd reached out his hand and pointed to the small space of land between Ilia and Bern. "What is this place, mister?" The monk's face grew red and his hands fluttered over the map before responding.

"Those are the plains of Sacae, sir. Normally, you could make it there within a day. But with the passes closed …" the monk trailed off, but Lloyd nodded in understanding.

Lloyd's red-brown eyes were narrowed and his brow curled up as he stared at the map. He knew that he heard Nergal say something was going on in Bern. If he went there and cornered the man, he might find a way back home. The others were probably worried sick about him.

"Hey … could I use this map?" Lloyd asked the monk after a moment. The monk blinked and looked at Lloyd in surprise. Lloyd sighed and said, "I need to head out for Bern, and I don't think I can wait for winter to end. I take it that there are ships sailing this time of year?"

The monk nodded and stated that a port city near Etruria would sail a ship to Bern. Lloyd nodded and thanked the man. He took the bowl of soup offered to him while his mind worked away.

'Okay, all that I know is that I'm on a world completely different from Aselia called Elibe… and that I'm somehow stuck here. I'm willing to bet that this '_Nergal_' guy, whoever he is, is the one who somehow managed to pull me over into this world. He must be up to something big, because he told that Sonia person to hurry up with something…'

Putting aside the empty soup bowl, he sighed heavily and leaned against the wall. 'I don't think I can use my wings here. There's not enough Mana for me to pull on. And since I left my swords back at home, I have very few ways to defend myself…' Closing his eyes, Lloyd found himself rather tired for the first time in a good while. 'Hopefully I'll find some answers soon…'


	2. Lyn

Valiant: Hello, V here. Bringing you a new chappy of the brand new story!  
_Li_: Yeppers~! Enjoy, everyone!  
**Lloyd:** Bah, you're both psychotic. -.-  
Valiant: Nah, just easily entertained. I for one and most enjoying this story and we haven't even written any of it yet. Mwahahahaha!  
**Lloyd: **Why me… T.T  
_Li: _because you're the only one who could stand falling through the Otherworldly Gate at this point in time and onto that the fact that you're SO easy to manipulate … X3  
**Lloyd: **Oh, no … help me … Y.Y  
Valiant: Neither myself or Miss Li-Chan own Tales of Symphonia or Fire Emblem. Those intellectual properties belong to their respective owners. However, anything original within these pages belongs to us, and yes Lloyd, that includes you and your 25 year old self.  
**Lloyd: **I'm going to die… My end has finally come.

* * *

Chapter one: Lyn

Elibe

Lloyd clenched his teeth as he forced himself to roll onto his back, laughing at the irony of his situation; how far he'd come in just a year, only to lose Nergal's trail here, in Sacae. And to be exhausted this badly by just a bunch of measly bandits. "Haha…" Lloyd wheezed, "I must be out of shape or something. Or it could be the Mana Level here… it's worse than Sylvarant was… before the Journey of Regeneration."

Lloyd fought to keep his eyes open, but it was a losing battle. Slowly, Lloyd begrudgingly closed his eyes. The will to resist the sleep his body so desperately wanted died little by little every second. Lloyd fell unconscious amid the scattered remains of the bandits. His tattered cloak was picked up by the wind and stretched across his body, as if the world itself was tucking him in.

* * *

Aselia

"Remind me, Colette, why did we come to the Otherworldly gate again?" Genis, a tall, strapping young man with a white beard carefully groomed into a point, asked of his old friend. His hair was cut conservatively to shoulder length, and he wore long, dark robes of varying blues and greens. On the bridge of his nose sat a pair of glasses.

Colette turned from the circle of stones, her ankle length blond hair swirling as she moved. Since the birthing of the Yggdrasil tree eight years previous, the last Chosen of Regeneration filled into an adult body. At the age of twenty four, her face had lost some of its youthful exuberance, and yet her sparkling blue eyes more than made up for it. Her own white outfit hadn't changed much, except for letting out of certain parts, expanding a patch here and there, adding a pocket or two, and lengthening it to accommodate her new height.

"Genis, remember how Noishe was looking out at the ocean a while back?" she asked. Genis nodded, his eyes and face remaining skeptical. "Well," Colette continued, "I think he was trying to find Lloyd, and he thought Lloyd out at sea. So I flew out over the ocean and the first place I came to that could have any importance was … well, here."

"Colette," sighed Sheena. She stood next to Colette in the traditional get up of her village, Mizuho. She hadn't changed much since the world was healed. The only noticeable difference being the tired gaze she looked at the world with, framed by a few wrinkles and lines. Her hair was a bit longer as well, now hanging behind her back in a long ponytail. "What makes you think Noishe was looking for Lloyd? He's been gone for weeks, and it's not like that is out of the ordinary either. He did the same thing three years ago when he was trying to infiltrate that resurgent group of half elves trying to resurrect the Desian Grand Cardinals."

"That's true, but," Colette said, and shook her head, her long hair shook with the movement. "That time, Noishe wasn't whining and whimpering whenever Dirk moved Lloyd's things around the house. Dirk told me that whenever he does this, Noishe whines as if Lloyd's in trouble and then Noishe runs out to stare out to the ocean. I think Noishe is trying to say that Lloyd's in trouble."

"Hmm … I wonder …" Genis' face gained a thoughtful look, his blue eyes growing distant.

"Hmm; what is it Genis?" Colette asked.

Genis pushed a finger up the bridge of his nose, readjusting his glasses. "The Protozoans are creatures of unknown origin, though the Elves in Heimdall claim that they were once on the home planet they were exiled from. Consequently, there are many things we don't know about them. It's possible that there are things Noishe can know without actually being present, kind of like a sixth sense. Maybe Lloyd is in trouble and because of Noishe's connection to Lloyd's family, he knows when something has gone wrong."

"But what could have happened?" Sheena asked. "I mean, this is Lloyd we're talking about. No one can stop him and no weapon is strong enough to injure him."

"The one you call Lloyd left this world through that which you call the Otherworldly Gate." Genis, Colette, and Sheena spun to face the circle of stone. From the center of the stone circle walked a figure. The tattered and raggedy charcoal grey cloak draped over the stranger roiled as the wind played with its long neglected ends. The hood of the cloak was large and wide, encompassing and hanging past the stranger's face, making identification impossible. Yet the voice was most definitely feminine. The stranger walked forward until she was a couple paces from the three companions.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone else was here." Colette bowed quickly, grinning happily. Genis and Sheena remained quite but alert. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but who are you?" Colette asked.

"My name is not important, not yet… Just know that Lloyd will return. I know he'll return. He'll return to this very spot and when that time comes, you and your companions must be prepared, for he will not come alone. A great beast follows him, hunts him. In a year's time, when Lloyd returns, the beast will arrive and you must help Lloyd defeat it, for he will be weakened from his journey."

"How do you ..." Genis paused as he spoke, blinking a couple of times as he realized that the stranger had vanished.

"Wh-where did she go?!" Sheena shouted, startled. Not even the shinobi who worked with her could vanish so suddenly. This was unnerving even to her.

"Do you think she's right?" Colette asked. "With all the signs that Noishe was giving us and then this woman appearing, maybe Lloyd really is in trouble. We've got to go tell the others!"

"Sis will be intrigued by this as well," Genis said. "Especially since the Otherworldly Gate is supposed to be a plain old pile of rocks now."

"Let's go round the group up then," Sheena said, turning. The others followed her away from the stone circle. The cloaked figure stepped from the shadow hanging off of one of the large stone arches. She stood with her cloak playing around her ankles and watched the three leave.

"Come back to me …" the stranger whispered, "Lloyd …"

* * *

Elibe

Lloyd awoke to an immense pounding behind his eyes. It took him a while to open them. But before that, the first thing he noticed was that he was on something considerably softer than the plains outside.

Groaning and blinking a few times, he attempted to sit up. He felt a blanket fall down from around him which exposed his bare chest to the open air. Frowning, he looked around, and found his shirt and battered grey cloak folded neatly off to the side.

"Where am I?" Lloyd asked himself silently. He nearly rolled from the bed he sat on when he heard a voice outside. Curious, he decided to stay put, and rubbed a sore spot on his arm. The opening to the Ger opened and a young woman stepped inside.

Resisting the urge to gasp, Lloyd stared as three thoughts registered in his head at the same time. '_I haven't seen her around before… I'm definitely still on a completely different world… Whoa, she's pretty!_'

Resisting the urge to blush, Lloyd made a low grunt. The young woman looked up from the work she was doing surprise and relief mixed on her face and in her deep emerald eyes. "Oh, good, you're awake!"

The young woman said, smiling. She walked to Lloyd's side checked the bandages revealed by the vacating blanket on his chest. Lloyd watched, his mind blank, as the young woman's nimble fingers deftly pulled parts of the bandages back while straightening up other areas.

Lloyd – getting over his initial confusion – looked at the young woman and asked softly, "Where -- am I still in Sacae, miss?" When the young woman nodded, he sighed in relief. The movement caused the sore muscles in his chest and neck to stretch, eliciting a gasp. He caught his breath and winced as he forced the stiffness from his body with a hard stretch, pushing out the abdomen muscles that Zelos once said he was jealous of.

"How long have I been asleep?" he asked.

"I found you three days ago amongst a bunch of half-eaten brigand corpses." The young woman replied. She brushed dark green hair out of her face. The leather gauntlet gloving her hand cracked and groaned as she bent her hand. Can you tell me your name, sir? You have the look of a traveler, yet I've certainly never seen you before. What brought you all the way out here, to Sacae?"

Lloyd looked at the woman and grinned as he stood. He pulled on his red shirt, momentarily blocking the lovely visage of the young woman. Once the garment was on, he turned to face her again, and was mildly amused to find that she was taller than he had first thought.

"Do you want my full name?" He asked after a moment, cocking his head to one side. "It's quite the mouthful."

The young woman nodded. Lloyd chuckled, and his hands drifted to his waist where they rested on his belt. His fingers idly playing with his shirt instead of the twin blade hilts that used to reside there.

"My full name is Lloyd Irving-Aurion," Lloyd paused, as he let the name sink in. Then he continued, "But most of the time I go by Lloyd Irving."

The young woman blinked, staring at him with her mouth slightly open, making the brunet lift his arm behind his head where he scratched while chuckling. "I … had an interesting upbringing, and let's leave it at that, alright…" Lloyd tapered off. He dropped his hand and gave his rescuer a curious, wide eyed look. "What might your name be?"

The young woman blinked two times then smiled at Lloyd. "I am Lyn of the Lorca tribe. It is a pleasure to meet you, Lloyd." Lloyd nodded and smiled. He looked around the tent, eventually letting his gaze drift back to Lyn. She was looking at him in a curious manner and Lloyd was about to comment, but a soft crunching noise caught his attention. By the expression on Lyn's face, Lloyd determined that the sound was far softer than he initially thought.

Turning to face the ger's opening, Lloyd stood and walked over towards it, Lyn followed him out of confusion. "Is there something wrong, Lloyd?" She asked as he reached out and drew the opening flap back.

Two large, overweight men were searching the tall grass a short distance away. The axes they hefted over their shoulders glinted in the setting sunlight as they shifted their weight to walk. "They must want to finish what they started…" Lloyd said.

He drew in a deep breath and started forward. A strangled yelp leaped from his lips when a small but strong hand gripped the back of his shirt and pulled. Lloyd then stood by as Lyn walked past him, picking up a sheathed katana that hung on the wall. She paused at the entrance to give him a stern glare.

"Your wounds are still too severe to fight, Lloyd," Lyn said; she pointed to the way he was favoring his left side, where the bandages underneath could be seen through his shirt. "And you don't even have a weapon," she added. "You stay and rest. I'll deal with the bandits."

She all but spat the word 'bandits', as if it were a drop of acid sitting on the tip of her tongue. Lloyd blinked as Lyn disappeared out of the door, letting the flap fall gracefully back to the down position. Something about the way she said that word and the look in her eyes when she did so made Lloyd think there was more to this than simply defending an injured man.

Unable to help himself, Lloyd snorted air indignantly through his nose and charged through the entrance. He quickly caught up to Lyn, being sure to step lightly the whole time. He reached Lyn just as she was about to jump out of the tall grass and attack the closest bandit head on.

Lloyd quickly reached out and snatched her emerald colored ponytail. He tugged on it hard enough to stop her, but not enough to make her cry out. Lyn, quietly gritting her teeth, turned glaring daggers before she even saw Lloyd; Lloyd merely tiled his head and returned a curious look of his own.

"Were you planning on defeating him or having your face bashed in with his axe?" He asked. He let the intense feeling of déjà vu flow him; Kratos had spoken to him like this often. Lyn contemplated an answer but instead of speaking, she looked away; Lloyd grinned. "If you want to win a battle, you must first do it in your head and then follow through with your sword. I could help you, if you allow me." Lyn looked at him for a moment, and then slowly her head bobbed up and down.

"Though I do not appreciate being bossed around as such, your words do have a certain ring of truth in them," Lyn said. She gave Lloyd a weak smile and added, "As long as you do not push yourself too hard, then I suppose I see nothing wrong with you aiding me. But _I _am doing the fighting, got it?"

Lloyd winked at Lyn and pulled on his cloak. Once he was satisfied that the crimson wing pattern was between his shoulder blades, Lloyd pointed at the tall grass. "Hide there and wait for me to lure him into the open. Take your shot when you see it."

Lyn nodded and Lloyd turned away. He pulled on his arms and rolled his head around, stretching his muscles. He could already feel the soreness still hugging his side, but it didn't feel nearly bad enough to slow him down too much, and certainly not for one on one.

As Lloyd walked toward a clearing of shorter grass, his hand could be seen moving about underneath his cloak, and moments later a large, red apple appeared in his hand. Lloyd rubbed the apple on his cloak, still slowly walking toward the open plains, making the fruit catch fire evening sunlight.

'_Now that I think about it, why didn't I notice that in his cloak pocket when I was tending to his wounds?_' Lyn wondered as she stalked Lloyd's glowing apple through the tall grass. Much to her amusement, the bandit actually made a big noise as he caught sight of Lloyd. The large man trundled loudly through the sea of grass he was wading through toward his prey. Had she been deaf and blind she would have known he was coming.

"You!" the bandit shouted. "You're the one we've been looking for. You'll pay for what you did to my comrades!"

"Oh?" Lloyd asked innocently. He stopped his meandering and turned to face the bandit just as he lifted his huge axe into the air. "Hello." Lloyd's apple crunched as his teeth took a large chunk from its juicy red flesh. At the same time, he took a quick step to the left, completely dodging the axe that otherwise would have cut him completely in half.

Lloyd leaned on the axe, watching the bandit strain to pull the large weapon free from the earth's embrace, and took another bite from his apple. "You know," Lloyd said, swallowing loudly. "You and your comrades would all be alive right now if you hadn't tried to attack me."

"Ahhh!" The bandit roared as he wrenched his axe free. He lifted it high above his head, a red faced grimace staring down at his target. Lloyd looked calmly, almost curiously, up at the sharpened blade that glowed red in the evening sun.

With the axe held high above his head, ready to strike, Lyn leapt out from the grass. She quick-drew and her katana slashed open a red gash on the bandit's side. Startled, the man brought his axe down in a wild stroke. Lyn easily dodged and skid to a halt a couple feet away. Dust was still clouding the air as Lyn leaped forward again. Her katana slashed the bandit across his chest and bit deeply into his skin, drawing another large gash on the hulking man.

Unfortunately, she wasn't quite quick enough to dodge the next axe blow. The edge of the weapon easily cut through the thin cloth of Lyn's outfit. A crimson blossom grew with startling quickness across her side.

Lyn grabbed the wound and hissed. The bandit grinned as he leered down at her and hoisted his axe back into the air.

"End this now!" Lloyd shouted.

The sudden outburst from directly behind her caused her body to act out automatically. She sped forward just as the bandit lifted the axe into its highest position. Her katana ran into and cut open the huge man's throat. A fountain of red filled the air with a crimson mist as the bandit's dead body fell loudly to the ground.

Lyn looked down at the corpse. She glared as she whipped her katana to the side, flinging the blood from the blade, and quickly slipping it back into the sheath. Lloyd walked up to Lyn's side, taking another noisy bite from his half eaten apple. Lyn didn't notice Lloyd's presence until he poked her in the bloody patch on her side, eliciting another gasp from Lyn.

"Do you have something to take care of that?" Lloyd asked; he received a glare from his companion in response. "Small cut or not, an injury can prove to be a hassle."

Lyn nodded, wincing as she clamped a hand down on the wound once more. She stuck her other hand into the satchel tied to her hip opposite her katana. As she dug around, Lloyd kicked the corpse, rolling it into taller grass. He then picked up the axe and flung it next to the body.

Pulling out a brown satchel, Lyn gave Lloyd a sideways look as the brunet took another bite of his apple. "How can you dodge that quickly?" She asked as she applied some of the contents inside the brown satchel, a gooey green substance, to her wound.

Lloyd shrugged. "Eight years of practice, Lyn, eight years of practice." Lloyd took two quick bites of his shrinking apple. "And that's if you put aside my natural reflexes."

As Lyn continued to apply the vulnerary to her side, Lloyd wheeled to the side and took a few steps up a short hill. His eyes narrowed when the other side came into view, and saw that the second bandit had set up a tent and was sitting in front of it. '_Most likely was waiting for his fellow bandit to return,'_ Lloyd surmised. Lyn approached Lloyd and slowed to a stop just as she reached his side.

"There doesn't seem to be any tall grass for you to leap at him from this time," Lloyd said. "He's going to see us coming."

Lloyd twisted his mouth at the loss of surprise. Lyn took a step forward and glanced over her shoulder. The wind blew her hair to opposite direction as her emerald eyes came into view. "You stay here. I'll take care of this one."

"You barely defeated the last one and you think that you can take on the next one alone?" Lloyd asked. An eyebrow arched before he shrugged. "Fine, it's your funeral."

Lyn took for steps forward and then stopped. She turned around and glared at Lloyd. He didn't notice that so much as the way the red sunlight lit up her face; her eyes, angry, sparkled marvelously.

"What did you have in mind?" Lyn asked.

Lloyd's eyebrow arched and he smirked. "First off, these bandits are stupid. No, wait … they're very stupid. They can only concentrate on one thing at a time. So, if the two of us approach the last one, one of us can play decoy and the other can attack without too much fear of reprisal. So, I'll just play decoy again and you wait until you have a clear shot, ok?"

"But…" Lloyd munched on the apple core in his hand as he walked past Lyn. He shaved the remnants from the once large fruit with his front teeth. Lyn rolled her eyes and followed Lloyd.

The two quickly crossed the short grassed plains. They arrived at the makeshift tent just as the sun reached out on the horizon and touched the surface of the earth. The bandit, waiting for them to arrive, hoisted his axe onto his shoulder and pointed at Lloyd.

"You're the one who killed all of my comrades," the large man said in a gruff voice. "You'll pay for what you've done!"

Lloyd groaned and buried his face into his hands, feigning distraught. "Can't you idiots _ever_ think up something new to say?" The bandit charged forward, ignoring Lloyd's quip, and with a roar he raised his axe into the air.

Lloyd jumped to the side, dodging the attack easily. Lyn hung back, watching the battle, waiting for her opportunity to strike. She watched Lloyd, mesmerized that despite his injury, he was still able to dodge and jump without actually bending his abdomen. And then it appeared; the opening.

Lyn quickly dashed forward, unsheathing her katana for a quick slash. She hit the bandit on this shoulder and opened a deep, bloody hole where there hadn't been one before. That arm, unfortunately, the one not used to swing the axe, went limp. The bandit roared defiantly, changing focus from Lloyd to Lyn.

The bandit whipped his axe around, attempting to smack Lyn upside the head with the flat of the head. Lyn, having just completed her fist attack, didn't have enough time to see, let alone escape the incoming attack. Just as the axe reached her, Lloyd bowled into her, knocking Lyn onto her back. Her katana fell from her hand.

The bandit roared again and lifted his ax into the air. Lloyd pushed Lyn hard and rolled in the opposite direction. They separated just in time to avoid being split up by the axe blade that rent the air.

Lyn scrambled to her feet and went for her katana. "Lyn! Look out!" Lyn barely had a chance to register the impact from the axe before she was flying through the air. She landed hard on the ground and tumbled a few feet. Lloyd appeared at her side and propped her up.

The bandit sneered. "Looks like I'll be having me a snack after I'm done killing you, boy," the bandit said, leering down at the two of them. Lloyd growled and glanced down at the katana in Lyn's hand. Images of different outcomes from different attacks that he knew flew through his mind at break neck speed.

His hand twitched as he stretched it toward the sword. Lyn's hand grabbed onto his, which made him look down. She didn't appear to be too badly hurt, but one more strike and she'd be out for the count, if not worse. But her eyes, shimmering with strength in the fading light, gave Lloyd pause.

"Help me up, Lloyd," she said. "I'll finish him in one blow." Lloyd didn't hesitate to help Lyn to her feet. The bandit watched, apparently amused and assured of his victory. Lyn's fingers tightened, her leather glove groaning, as she got back on her feet.

"Oh," the bandit said. He cocked his head to the side. "Are you sending a woman out to do a man's job? No matter, I'll just knock her out and when I'm done with you I'll have my way with her."

"No!" Lyn shouted. She lifted her sword in front of her and set her steely gaze on the large man in front of her. "You're a monster just like all your kind. You all need to be burned from the plains like an infestation of mole rats." The bandit grinned as he tilted his head back and looked down on Lyn. Her face twisted into a mask of rage as she shouted, "On the honor of the Lorca tribe, you shall die here, scum!"

Lyn cried out as she sprang forward, suddenly vanishing. Two great slashes in an X-pattern appeared on the bandit's chest, before Lyn reappeared behind the large man. By the time Lloyd's eyes caught up to her, the bandit's head was flying through the air and Lyn was back flipping into her original position.

Lloyd let out a low whistle of approval; he brought his apple up to take another bite out of it, but then noticed through the dim twilight that there wasn't anything left. With a saddened frown, he tossed the brown core next to the dead bandit.

"Impressive," he said as Lyn snapped her katana to the side, flicking the new coat of blood from its length. "Very impressive," he said again under his breath.

Lyn glared down at the dead body, as if her will alone could reanimate the corpse so she might strike it down again. She sheathed it after a good minute of glaring and turned away, her head held high. The first stars were just blinking into existence. They're twinkling light shining down on the plains of Sacea and those who lived there.

Lloyd looked up as well. His pupils dilated as he saw something that wasn't there, or perhaps, relived something within his mind. Lyn noticed Lloyd and approached him.

"I don't mean to be rude in asking this," she said, "but where are you from? It seems you've a lot of experience in the world and yet you're out here in the middle of the Sacean Plains." The two started walking at a slow paced in the direction of Lyn's ger. Lloyd was silent until the two of them crested the hill that concealed them earlier that afternoon.

"I'm obviously not from here," Lloyd said, waving his hand around. "A man of great power has something important to me. I've been chasing him around all of Elibe for a year now." Lloyd paused as they walked past the smelly pile that was the first dead bandit. "I followed his trail from Illia, through Bern and Lycia, and ended up crossing the mountains and entering Sacea. I'd just lost his trail when that band of ruffians attacked me without cause. And that's how I ended up here."

"That's a long way to travel in just a year," Lyn said. "Maybe you can tell me about it. And more about this man you're chasing."

"Yeah," Lloyd said. Just as the two of them reached Lyn's ger, Lloyd threw his head back and yawned long and heavy. "But tonight, I think I'd like to have a good and long rest."

Lyn nodded with a smile. "Of course; and I've just the meal to send a man to sleep with after a long day fighting."

After eating and a short argument about sleeping arrangements, Lloyd was comfortably asleep next to the fire just outside Lyn's Ger. The fire crackled and merrily warmed the campsite. Lloyd woke every few hours to half consciously feed a couple sticks into the flames.

Eventually, the clear skies of Sacea, with their unrivaled view of the heavens, began to brighten. The pale blue turned to a dull pink, then a fiery red. Finally, the sun peeked over the horizon, casting its warm embrace across the land. The mountains to the south lit up as if great torches were built onto their peaks. The mountains to the north were even more aglow with the majesty of nature as the glaciers built up on their slopes glowed with the morning light.

Lloyd stretched out and yawned loudly as the early morning sleep fog drifted from his mind's eye. With a quick shake of his head, Lloyd pushed himself to his feet and yawned again. He looked out into the horizon, watching the sun rise slowly into the air, its fierce brightness seeming unable to scar his retinas.

With a great big smile plastered on his face, Lloyd took a deep breath of the fresh air. He lifted his arms into the air and stretched the muscles there. Then he bent over and stretched his leg out, pulling lightly on the muscles there and in his lower back.

Loosened up, Lloyd took off running. He made it to the hill from the other day and suddenly skidded to a stop. Lyn was already in the field, whipping her katana around, parrying and striking an invisible opponent. He watched her for a couple minutes.

'_She's got a lot of potential,'_ he thought. _'Her form is weak, but her follow-through is spot on; if she keeps practicing, she'll be quite deadly.'_ Lloyd smirked as the images of Lyn kicking hundreds of bandit's asses at once played out. _'Hmm … maybe not that, but something close to it; but man, I'd pay to watch that scene__.__'_

Lloyd, stepping as quietly as he could, approached Lyn. Lyn, oblivious to Lloyd, continued in her routine. She stepped forward, slashing upward. She then stepped backwards, parrying left and down. After that she took a step forward, and spun around, bringing her katana around in a horizontal slash. The movements were slow, but that was the only way she could be sure she was doing them right.

"Nice form," Lloyd said.

"Ah!" Lyn jumped. She swung her katana around to point at Lloyd's grin. She was breathing hard and trembling as Lloyd glanced down with his eyes at the blade a few inches away from his nose and then back up at her.

"Your awareness of your surroundings could use some work though," he added.

"Lloyd!" she said. She let the breath she was holding out quickly and dropped her katana. "I'm sorry, I didn't… You shouldn't sneak up on me like that!"

"And if I were a bandit you'd be dead… or worse." Lloyd rolled his eyes at the scowl he received. Truly, even when she was angry, she was strikingly beautiful. "Good morning to you too," he said playfully. "I-"

"Lloyd…"

Lloyd paused and looked at Lyn questioningly. She was biting her lower lip and looking downward. He tilted his head as he waited.

"Lloyd, I cannot deny that you've some experience in the ways of war." She paused before she looked up and searched his eyes. "I would like to come with you on your journey."

Lloyd looked at Lyn without reacting for a long while. Finally he blinked, and then he blinked again. Did he really want to let a girl tag along with him? He wondered. It could be dangerous… and he wasn't excited about the idea of babysitting all the time.

"What about the rest of your tribe?" Lloyd asked. "Surely your mother and father, or someone, out there would be worried about you all the time if you suddenly disappeared."

Lyn's brow creased as she quickly ducked her head. Her hair fell past her shoulders and covered the right side of her face. Lloyd's eyes widened and he reached a hand forward.

"Lyn, I'm sor-"

"My mother and father died… six months ago." Lloyd stood and silently listened and watched. Lyn remained in the half withdrawn pose with her hand coming up to push against the hair covered side of her face. "Our tribe was attacked by bandits … So many died and I…" Lyn sniffed loudly. "My father was the chieftain of the Lorca and when he died… Our tribe elders were old fashioned. I wanted to protect the Lorca, but… no one would follow a little girl. They scattered when the bandits… I am the last of the Lorca."

Lloyd watched Lyn for a few seconds. He felt in his heart the compulsion that he'd felt when he saw Marble for the first time in the Iselia Human Ranch. Lyn sniffed loudly again and he realized just how young she really must be, and being forced to grow up so fast. '_She's just like me,_' he realized. '_But she didn't have anyone to help her. I had Genis when I was exiled from Iselia._'

"Lyn," Lloyd said, "I-"

"I'm sorry," she said as she rubbed the wetness from her cheeks with the heel of her hand. "I've been alone for so long… No, no more!" She threw her hand down and jerked her head sideway, tossing her hair behind her. Her eyes, glistening with the freshness of tears, but were alight with determined fire.

The striking beauty of Lyn at that moment was enough to seal Lloyd's lips shut. She was all at once vulnerable and mighty, so potent a mix that any thoughts within Lloyd's mind were struck down with bolts of lightning. He watched her, and her indomitable spirit, as she shone in the morning sunlight. It was as though her true self had manifested right before his eyes.

"Lloyd, I want- I must become stronger, if only to do my family and all those who died for me justice. If I can stop this insanity, if I can keep another child from suffering the same horrible experience as I, then I will have honored their memories." Lyn took a step forward, towards Lloyd. Her gaze, beaming no less strength than before, focused in on his face. He stopped breathing.

"The battle yesterday taught me something. I can't become stronger if I'm all alone out here. I need someone to teach me and travel with me. Please Lloyd, I beg you, take me with you. You're a great warrior. I saw it in the way you effortlessly dodged those attacks yesterday. So… please…" Lyn's voice croaked, bringing Lloyd back to the present. He blinked a couple times, pulling his thoughts back into order. Lyn watched him, her emerald eyes growing darker with hurt defeat as every moment past.

"I'm sorry," she said suddenly. She turned around, giving Lloyd her back to look upon. "You are a stranger and it was quite rude of me to impose upon you in such a way. I-"

"Do you have the will to never give up, no matter how desperate and horrible the circumstances?" Lloyd asked. "Not even if you're faced with certain death and the prospect of never seeing the light of day?"

"…yes…" Lyn said without turning around. Her voice was barely audible, and Lloyd wouldn't have heard it save he had angelic hearing. He watched her hair and dress blow about in the shallow breezy. Her shoulders were hunched up, but she was incredibly still. It was quite a transformation from the incredible sight moments before.

"I am chasing a man who is far more powerful that any being I've yet met in this world," Lloyd said. "Do you have it in you to attempt to match the ferocious power that could destroy all of Elibe should you fail? Can you handle that responsibility and all the pain and suffering that will surely follow taking that mantle on?"

"Yes, I am willing to face the consequences of my actions." Lyn straightened up her back, but remained facing away. Lloyd crossed his arms over his chest, one final question etched into his heart from the last world changing journey he made nine years previous.

"If you can do all that, then before I take you on as my student, you must be willing to forgive your enemies." Lyn spun around, anger and hurt etched into the emerald irises staring into his own red ones. Before she could say anything in response, Lloyd continued, his own grim expression not wavering for a second. "I once defeated a man who'd gained the ultimate power. Instead of using this power to save the world, he became corrupted by it, and used the power to enslave the world for his own demented designs. He never learned that having power does not make one strong." Lloyd reached out and grabbed Lyn's shoulders with both hands. More tenderly than he thought he could, he said, "Strength, true strength, comes from the heart. Even if you had all the power in the world, if your heart was weak, you'd never be strong enough to accomplish your goals. If all you desire is revenge on those who hurt you, then I cannot help you. Should you decide that you want to become strong, and to defend others from the fate you have suffered, then tell me now."

Lyn's anger faltered, her face going from a frown to shock, to another frown. She eventually couldn't manage to look Lloyd in the eyes anymore, preferring to stare at the ground. The two of them stood like that, at arm's length, as the sun rose into the early morning sky.

Finally Lyn looked up. The fierce look returned with her movement. With a nod, she took a step backwards.

"I cannot say that I have the strength today with which to forgive my enemies," Lyn said. "But I can assure you that if you're willing to teach me this strength of the heart, then some day, I will. Until that time, I'll follow you, Lloyd Irving."

Lloyd's lips slowly stretched themselves into a smile. Lyn grinned back. Then before she could react, Lloyd rushed forward and knocked her to the ground.

"Lloyd!" she shouted. She looked up just in time to see Lloyd pull another apple from somewhere within his cloak. "What did you do that for?!"

"Lesson number one," he said through the apple in his mouth. "Don't ever let your guard down. Be prepared to do any number of acrobatic feats on a moment's notice." He swallowed the apple in his mouth and stuck hand out toward her.

Lyn grabbed Lloyd's hand and an idea popped into her head. As she pulled herself up, she used the momentum and the grip on Lloyd's hand to swing her body around. She brought her leg up and could then only watch as Lloyd neatly bent over backwards, avoiding her kick. Then Lloyd used the grip he had on her and added to her momentum.

Lloyd took another bite from his apple before he turned around to study his handiwork. Lyn sailed a good distance, but was already getting back to her feet. A cloud of dust was being carried off by the wind and had nearly dissipated as Lyn charged at him again.

"Lesson two," Lloyd said. He swallowed the apple in his mouth and took another crunchy bite as Lyn threw a fist at his face. He tilted his head to the side, leaned forward, hooked his arm in hers, and pulled her backwards. The sudden shift in her center of gravity made Lyn lose her balance and she fell onto her back.

"Never attack unless you see an opening," Lloyd said. He leaned over Lyn and munched loudly on chunk of juicy apple flesh in his mouth. Lyn frowned a she looked up at Lloyd from the ground, but he only grinned back.

"Where are you getting those apples?" she asked. Instead of answering, Lloyd reached down and grabbed Lyn's arm. She was quickly placed on her feet, realizing for the first time just how strong Lloyd really was.

"Hmm…" Lloyd said, swallowing the apple and taking another chunk out of the quickly shrinking main body in his left hand. "It seems you are taking those first two lessons to heart. Good; time for lesson three."

"And that is?" Lyn asked. She took a step backwards as Lloyd closed the distance between them. Before she could do anything, he grabbed her wrist and put a new apple into her palm.

"Always eat when you get the chance," Lloyd said. "Long journeys are… well, long. It sometimes gets hard to find food for long stretches of time. And if you want to beat your enemies, you'll need to keep your body fed."

Lyn looked down at the apple in her hand. It sat there, bright and red, eager to be eaten. Before she knew it, she sank her teeth into the supple red flesh of the fruit and ripped a large chunk off

"I noticed that you hadn't much food in your ger," Lloyd said. "I assume you've been near starvation for a couple weeks now. It's a wonder you have the energy to fight as well as you do at all." Lloyd shrugged as he tossed his own finished apple core over his shoulder. "In any case, when you're done, let's get going. I heard of a town not far from here, supposed to be the largest city in all Sacea."

Lyn paused in her apple feast. "You must be speaking of Bulgar," she said. "It's not too far from here. I know the way. We can acquire some supplies there before we continue on our journey." Then without ceremony, Lyn dove back into the apple. Lloyd looked at her over his shoulder and smiled, shaking his head slightly at the sight.

* * *

The streets of Bulgar boomed with life as people walked along the streets, and vendors in their brightly colored stalls offered items for sale to those that walked by them. Lloyd smiled nostalgically, reminded of the lively streets of Triet back on Aselia. Looking around as he carried the bag of food on his shoulder, the brunet began to seek out the fountain where he and Lyn were supposed to meet when a man a few years younger than him walked into the road.

"Whoa!" Lloyd exclaimed, pivoting on one foot to avoid a collision. The orange haired man startled, stopping and looking at the brunet in shock.

After a moment, he bowed and said softly, "I'm sorry about that, sir, but I was worried about something … I didn't see you coming, and …" Lloyd waved off the man's apologies with a smile.

"Don't worry about it." He said after a moment, and then grinned lightly. "But I must ask … what's a Lycian knight doing all the way out here in Sacae?" the young knight blinked and gave Lloyd a light smile. Without much thought, the two began to walk towards the center of town, Lloyd stating after a moment, "My name is Lloyd, and I've been through Lycia, so I recognized your armor." The knight nodded, and looked around for a moment.

"I am Kent, from the Caelin canton." He explained, to which Lloyd nodded.

"Ah, Caelin; never went through that canton when I was in Lycia." He explained, and would have added more if he hadn't caught sight of Lyn arguing with a brunet man in armor of a similar style to Kent's, save for his was forest green colored and not russet. Puzzled, Lloyd listened intently as the brunet spoke. 'Wait … is he _flirting_ with Lyn?!' Lloyd wondered briefly, and pointed the scene out to Kent just as Lyn asked: "Just where do you come from, to speak so freely with a stranger?"

The brunet knight gave a loud, dramatic sigh and said, "I come from Lycia's Caelin canton, home to men of passion and fire!" The tone of voice the man used made both Lloyd and Kent stop dead in their tracks; Kent seemed rather irritated, but Lloyd was shocked beyond all belief. That voice … oh Martel. That was Zelos' voice coming out of another body! Lloyd resisted the urge to groan as he saw how Lyn's eyebrows came together sharply over her eyes.

"Shouldn't that be 'home to callow oafs with loose tongues'!?" the young woman shot back, making Lloyd laugh lightly. It was a good, harsh insult, one that even Sheena would've been impressed with. Looking over at Kent, Lloyd could see that the carrot-top was rather vexed, his left eye twitching as he stared at the other knight, who seemed taken aback.

"I take it the flirt's a friend of yours?" Lloyd asked, to which Kent nodded in annoyance. Looking back at him, Lloyd shook his head with a sigh and said, "I'm sorry for saying this, but your teenage companion really needs to learn some tact." Kent let out a sigh and shook his head, obviously irritated.

"If he were only that young, then there might be some excuse for it …" Kent sighed, and began walking away. "Pardon me. I need to go knock some sense into his head." Lloyd merely nodded and watched Kent as he stalked over towards the brunet knight, yelling at him to 'stop being such a lout and leave the woman alone'. Smiling in spite of himself, Lloyd walked over to stand behind Lyn, who was staring at Kent and his companion with an exasperated look.

"But how could I stay silent in the presence of such beauty?" The brunet knight asked Kent, his green-brown eyes wide. With a dramatic flourish, he gestured to Lyn. "It would be discourteous!"

"Sain, you know _nothing _of courtesy!" Kent retorted, clearly fed up with Sain's antics. Lyn's eyes rolled, and Lloyd was unable to help himself and burst into laughter, startling the other three into looking at him.

"Sorry, but that reminded me of something that I always found humorous." Lloyd explained softly, attempting to subdue the rest of his chuckles. Lyn rolled her eyes at the brunet as she took the bag from him, startled at how much food there was in it. Lloyd saw her look and shrugged, "when I said a long journey, I meant a long journey." He said plainly, pulling out another apple and taking a bite of it. "Besides, I don't think we'll be able to hunt all that often so it's best to be prepared." Lyn rolled her eyes but said nothing.

Sain looked at the two for a moment before sighing sadly, his voice dramatic. "Ah, what a cruel curse that such a beauty has found her lover already! Will I never –" Whatever the man was about to say next was cut off as Kent all but crushed his foot with his heel. Lloyd choked on a bit of his apple as Lyn's face flared a bright red color.

"W – _What_?!" Lyn spluttered, and if it weren't for the fact that she had no idea who the knight truly was, Lloyd wouldn't have been shocked if she had smacked him. Lloyd recovered after a moment, and was amused to see that Kent was busy apologizing to Lyn. The emerald haired woman sighed. "Well, at least there are _some_ men of Caelin with honor." Lyn said blandly after a moment, glaring at Sain. Kent seemed to pause for a moment, and then blinked.

"I beg your pardon, miss …" he said softly, making Lyn look at him. "But haven't we … met before?" Lloyd arched an eyebrow; Kent was being courteous about the question, but Lyn was still offended, and didn't answer until she had stalked off a good distance.

"It seems that I am corrected; no knight of Lycia has any honor!" She spat out, temper flaring. "Come on, Lloyd, we should get going before too long!" Lloyd arched an eyebrow but followed along, munching on his apple. Kent stared at Lyn's retreating back for a moment, and then turned to Sain, who was staring at Lloyd.

"Sain … I think she's the one we were told about." Kent pointed at the woman, making Sain blink a couple of times. Before the brunet knight could comment, however, Lyn returned, jabbing her fingers at a pair of destriers – one chestnut brown, the other strawberry roan – who were both eating an apple handed to them by Lloyd, who was talking to the beasts.

"Your horses are in the way; will you please move them?" She asked curtly, making both of the knights blink. Before either of them could move though, Lloyd walked towards them, a pair of reins in each hand, the geldings following him calmly.

"No need to yell at them, Lyn." Lloyd said calmly, handing the chestnut's reins to Kent while handing off the strawberry roan to Sain. "They're good horses, you two; take care of them." He said with a smile, making both knights blink in surprise. Lyn stared at Lloyd in amazement, but let out a light sigh and grabbed onto his arm and walked off, muttering something about wanting to stop at a shrine nearby. Sain let out a low whistle.

"Hmmm … are you certain that such a forceful beauty could be our mission, Kent?" He asked after a moment, mounting the roan with a grunt. Kent nodded and mounted as well, his brow creased in concentration. Sain let out a faint gasp. "My dear companion, what if she does not believe our words?"

"Then I'll blame the failure on you and your inane flirting!" Kent snapped back, making Sain recoil slightly in his saddle. With a shake of his head, the orange haired knight led the way out of Bulgar, following Lyn and Lloyd from a distance.

Unaware of the knights' approach, Lyn turned to Lloyd with a sigh. "Do you think we have enough time to head out today, Lloyd?" She asked, to which the brunet nodded and walked out a ways, munching on a new apple that he had somehow acquired.

"Mm; if we leave now, we could get about ten miles under our belt before sundown …" Stopping, he turned to look at Lyn over his shoulder, and he said with a sadistic smile, "And at sundown, I can commence with lesson four." Lyn shuddered and looked around for the pack that they had put their supplies in when Lloyd let out a startled shout. "Oi! I do not appreciate being accosted by men who smell like animal droppings!" Lyn whipped around at the insult, and was shocked to see a pair of bandits high-tailing it out of the area and across the river, Lloyd slung over one of their shoulders, apple discarded as Lloyd glared at the bandits and continued to insult them, his wine colored eyes narrowed.

"Ah! Lloyd!" Lyn called, and went to follow the bandits when a large one wearing a shirt stepped in her way, sneering. Two other bandits flanked him on each side. "Let me through, you foul man!" She snapped. "I need to fetch my friend!" The bandit's wicked grin grew wider.

"I think not, _Lyndis._ You'll have to get him back by yourself." He sneered, making Lyn gasp; that name … before she could say much else thought, the bandit to the speaker's left was taken out by a sword to the back, while the one to the right was knocked over by the haft of a lance before he was trampled by a destrier's hooves. Lyn blinked to see the two knights from before next to her, Kent being the one with the bloody sword. The brigand leader stared at the two and scoffed. "So, it seems you have friends." Turning back to Lyn, he laughed darkly. "If you want to save your friend's life, I suggest you defeat us all, Lyn." With that, the man took off into forests before either Kent or Sain could get to him.

"Blast!" Lyn swore, and then looked at the knights with a sigh. "Would you two mind helping me? I don't think I could take on this many on my own, and I suspect you weren't following me without good reason." Kent looked away briefly as Sain coughed into his arm, both of their eyes sheepish. Sighing again, Lyn shifted her grip on her katana and drew it. "Well, if you're going to help, do so: Lloyd has no weapon, and I'm afraid the bandits might kill him." Sain smirked slightly at that.

"Ah, it seems the damsel is worried for her lo –" Kent silenced the other knight with a sharp smack upside the head with the flat of his sword, although he wasn't fast enough to stop Lyn's blush.

"Sain, now is not the time." He said simply, to which Lyn nodded in agreement before turning to face the approaching bandits.

'_Hold on Lloyd … we're coming.'_

* * *

REKKA OMAKE~~  
_Li: _Rekka Omake is going to be a little skit (or two if you're lucky) that we put in at the end of each chapter! Credit for the formatting idea goes to Twilight Scribe and her hilarious story Z Skit Theater!

Lyn is normal, **Kent is Bold,** and _Sain is Italic_

"For the Love of Chivalry!"

Come on, we've got to save Lloyd!

_Alright, alright, let's go save Milady's lover._

For the last time, Lloyd is not my lover! *smacks Sain*

_Ah! Ow …_

**You had that one coming, Sain**

_Such is the price for love …_

Oh, you're hopeless! Let's just go get Lloyd! *leaves*

**You heard the lady, Sain. Let's go****.**

_But I am injured!_

**You've survived worse. Now, is the oh-so-chivalrous Sain going to let a lady rush off to battle alone? I for one am not. *leaves***

_My friend … you have no sympathy sometimes … *follows*_

_

* * *

Li_: That's all for this time~! See you next chapter!


	3. The Path Forks

_Li: Chapter two!! *throws confetti about*  
_**Lloyd:** What the hell!? I'm weaponless! XO There's something wrong with that!  
_Li: No there isn't!_  
Valiant: All you need are your lips disclaimer boy! Get to it!  
**Lloyd: **How am I supposed to fight with only my lips? …Oh, I get it, I'm supposed to talk the enemy to death, right?  
Valiant: No, your lips are for disclaiming copyrighted material. Get to it!  
**Lloyd:** These two authors are owners of absolutely nothing… except the plot.

Chapter Two: The Path Forks

* * *

Lloyd rolled his eyes in annoyance as the two bandits who had carried him away from Lyn dropped him onto the ground. '_They have absolutely no tact to speak of, do they?'_ He thought with a sigh, running a hand through his brunet bangs as he pulled out another apple from within the folds of his cape. As he did so, Lloyd noticed that being picked up and slung about like he had been had managed to knock his locket out from where it had been tucked into his shirt. "Oh dear …" he stated as he took a bite out of his apple, and was going to shove the locket back into his shirt when one of his "guards" noticed it.

"Hey, boss! This one's got gold on him!" He shouted, and reached out to grasp the locket by its thin chain. Lloyd retaliated in full, grasping the man's arm in his free hand and squeezing. "Let go of me, you!" Lloyd didn't respond, and simply glared as he squeezed harder. With a final jerk of his hand, Lloyd twisted the man's arm against its natural curve, smirking as he heard the bones break with a snap. The bandit screamed and backed away from Lloyd, cradling his broken arm.

Satisfied, Lloyd took another bite out of his apple as he tucked the locket away again, still glaring death at the bandit left to guard him. He didn't know if it was because of his crimson eyes or that the other oaf had seen how he'd effortlessly broken his friend's arm, but he gave him a wary look before focusing on the fight around him. Following his example, Lloyd looked off towards where he could just faintly see Lyn standing with the two cavaliers from Bulgar beside her, the three of them talking about how best to get through all of the bandits to get to Lloyd. _'I don't think that I'll need to interfere …' _Lloyd thought to himself, taking another bite out of his apple. _'Lyn's got a good head on her shoulders, and I think that those knights will do a good job in battle once they're let loose.' _Swallowing his most recent bite, Lloyd smiled to himself. "Alright, Lyn, time for you to master the first three lessons …"

(With Lyn, Kent, and Sain)  
Lyn looked at the bandits that were approaching them, a sinking feeling in her stomach, _'Oh, no … there's so many of them this time. Can I do this?'_ She asked herself, barely able to suppress the shudders that racked her body. _'Lloyd … what on earth should I do about this?'_ Lyn was about to lunge at the nearest bandit when she saw that Sain had beaten her too it, his destrier closing the distance between himself and the bandit rapidly. However, the brunet was using a lance, and the bandit managed to dodge the pole weapon and swung out with an axe. A sword wielding bandit snuck up on Sain from behind at the same time, so while the brunet was forced to dodge the axe, he managed to slash off the sword-wielder's extended arm with a clean sweep.

"Sain! Where is your sword?" Kent barked as he rode up as well, lashing out against the axe wielder with his sword. The blade cut through skin and left a long, thin wound behind. Sain backed up away from the bandits, as did Kent, looking rather askance from his younger friend's chastisement.

"The lance is more heroic. A knight should look heroic, don't you think?" Sain said, only to receive an irate glare in response.

"You're hopeless," Kent said. "If you don't take this more seriously, then you're going to find yourself on the sharp side of a blade." Kent continued to stare Sain down.

Another pair of bandits rushed the two knights. Kent pulled on the reins and tightened his legs, prompting his mount to charge forward. Sain followed, missing again. The two continued fighting as Lyn kept her distance.

She watched Sain and Kent argue while fighting. Their argument, whatever it was about, ended up littering the field of battle with several dead bodies. She was amazed how each could fight so fluidly and still every encounter while being distracted by the other. Kent even gave Sain the extra sword he was carrying behind him without breaking his own stride.

Then her own attention was drawn to three bandits approaching her from the tuft of trees to the left. She looked back to the two knights, but they were too far away to reach her in time. She swallowed loudly and gripped her katana tighter. The sweat on her palms made the leather of her gloves groan.

'_It looks like I'm on my own_' she thought, inwardly shivering. The three hulking men each bore an axe along with scarred faces. They looked fierce and walked like it too. '_I wish Lloyd was here._'

"_Lesson one: Don't ever let your guard down. Be prepared to do any number of acrobatic feats on a moment's notice"_

The memory washed over her just moments before the first bandit was within range to swing his axe at her. In those seconds her mind calmed and her vision came into focus. '_If I can't do anything without Lloyd, then what good am I as a student? I've already gotten one training session with him in. It will simply have to be enough._'

The bandit swung his axe. It ripped through the air, screaming along its bloodthirsty path. The bandit grinned as Lyn's eyes glared up into his ugly face.

"Lyn!" Sain and Kent both shouted.

Lyn calmly took a step to the side and let the axe bury itself into the dirt. Then she lashed out with her katana, cutting the bandit deep in his arm. Blood and screams did indeed fill the air, only they didn't belong to Lyn.

The first bandit out of commission, Lyn turned as the second two approached. They each kept their guards up, no longer taking Lyn to be a defenseless woman. She glared at the bandits and felt the familiar hatred welling up within her. She felt her muscles tighten as she prepared to leap head long into both of them.

"_Lesson Two: Never attack unless you see an opening."_

Lyn stopped. For a moment she wavered between doing what her heart wanted, rushing in and tearing the two men apart, and doing what Lloyd said. Finally, her head won out, and she looked at the way each bandit was standing.

The two were circling around her, one trying to get behind her while the other faced her from the front. She brought her katana up in a diagonal defensive position. With a suddenness that a viper would envy, she spun around and struck.

The bandit behind her, totally not expecting that to happen, died quickly from a neck wound. The last bandit rushed forward, but Lyn back flipped over his axe as it swung for her legs. While in the middle of her hand-stand, she aimed for the bandit's head and pushed up. The acrobatic feat resulted in Lyn knocking the bandit over with two Sacaen boots to the head. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Milady, are you alright?!" Kent asked, his destrier's hooves skidding on the grassy plains as the two Knights came to a stop. After checking her over, Kent could only find grass in her hair from the handstand. She nodded at him.

"That was fantastic, Milady," Sain said. He beamed a grin at her that would light up the moon. "I've ne'er seen a feat more fantastic. Well done."

"Save your praise for afterword, when we've won the battle," Lyn said. "We still have half the field to cross until we get to where Lloyd is being held. And it looks like the enemy won't underestimate us again."

All three sets of eyes turned to the forested area on the opposite side of the field. Over twenty-five bandits were rushing toward them, leaving a cloud of dust in the air. Sain raised a hand and weakly held it in the bandit's direction, a sweat drop forming on the back of his head.

"I… take it back," Lyn said, "These bandits are idiots."

(With Lloyd)

"Mm-hm, well said Lyn," Lloyd said. He brought his apple to his mouth and took another bite out of it. Zagu scratched his chin as he glanced from the field of battle, where he'd just sent all his men, to Lloyd. A disinterested sneer wrapped itself onto his face as he saw the apple.

"What was that you said, boy?" Zagu asked.

Lloyd shrugged, using his upper teeth to work the apple, which was more of a core now. "Lyn said that you bandits are idiots for charging her and those knights all at once. I'm simply agreeing with her."

"What are you talking about?" Zagu looked back to the field and then to Lloyd once more. "They've got to be over a mile away. There is no way you could've heard them!"

Lloyd shrugged as he tossed the apple core away. "Even if she didn't say it, which she did, _I_ would have said the exact same thing. Honestly, if fifteen couldn't do it, what makes you think thirty can?"

"I'll not be taking advice from the likes of you boy," Zagu said, his sneer making his scars stretch. Honestly, Lloyd felt like poking him to see if it was real. "We've been doing this for many more years than you've been alive. And besi- Why are you staring at me?!"

"I'm sorry," Lloyd said, chuckling. "But you're just so damn ugly."

"Why… you…" Zagu took a step toward Lloyd. Lloyd put a hand over his mouth to hold his laughter in. "I'm going to enjoy killing you," Zagu said. He stopped his approach when Lloyd pointed over his shoulder. Zagu turned.

All the bandits charged at Lyn. Lyn motioned toward Sain and Kent. Both knights sped off in opposite directions. Lyn retreated.

"Haha," Zagu laughed. "You're right, that's funny."

"You're men are all dead if they keep chasing after Lyn," Lloyd said. Zagu sneered and spun around to find Lloyd with his eyes closed. "And they will, because they're not smart enough to realize that the two knights didn't abandon Lyn, but are using her as bait. And since Lyn is faster than all of your men with their heavy axes, she'll easily be able to out run them."

Zagu turned and watched the situation unfold exactly as Lloyd said. Lloyd went on though, reality following his edicts without him ever looking at the field of battle. "Then the two knights will come around behind your men and start to pick them off one at a time. This shouldn't take too long since they're mounted knights and can easily trample anyone they can't kill with a blade."

Just as Lloyd said, Kent and Sain appeared from the woods on either side of the field and quickly caught up to the bandits. Then the number of bandits started to drop quickly as Sain impaled them on his lance and Kent lopped heads or stabbed with his sword. A few bandits did indeed get trampled beneath the destriers' dinner plate sized hooves.

"Then, when there's only a couple left, say ten, Lyn will stop running. She'll turn around, and attack the first of your men that she sees. He'll go down quickly since he's not going to expect her to attack. The second will follow shortly because he doesn't expect the first guy to go down so quickly. Then the two knights will catch up and start attacking from the rear. Your men will become disoriented and never actually swing their weapons before they're all dead."

Lloyd cracked an eye open to see. Just as he predicted, the bandits were all grouped together and none of them were attacking. In short order, they were all lying on the ground and the three warriors that put them there approached once more. Zagu hands clenched into fists as his arms and shoulders shook.

"Damn… Accursed knights! Always butting into other people's business," Zagu growled. He turned and grabbed the huge axe leaning against the tree next to Lloyd. As he hoisted it above his shoulder, Zagu glanced down at Lloyd. "They'll pay for this," Zagu said, "and you're going to help me do it."

Lloyd looked to his right, to his left, and finally he lifted a hand up and pointed a finger at his chin. Zagu nodded. The big man reached out and grabbed Lloyd by the neck. Lloyd frowned as he was lifted up and thrown over Zagu's shoulder.

"A peep out of you loudmouth and I'll cut yer tongue off," Zagu said with a raspy voice. "Got that?"

"Hmph." Lloyd crossed his arms as Zagu took off down the hill. '_I'm not a loudmouth… at least, not anymore._' he thought.

The two sides came to a stop, Zagu holding Lloyd on one side and Lyn, Kent, and Sain on the other. Sain and Kent, now much closer than before, bore the obvious signs of battle. Kent's armor was scratched up on his left side and cut open in several places. Blood covered Sain's left arm, a wound on his shoulder the obvious source. It wasn't bleeding anymore, so Lloyd assumed that he'd used a Vulnerary on it. Lyn was as beautiful as ever, especially with the fierce look in her eyes and the blood dripping from a small cut on her cheek.

"Let Lloyd go!" Lyn demanded.

Zagu laughed. Lloyd grunted each time the bandit's shoulder was shoved into his gut from the big man's mirth. Lyn remained silent.

"That's a good one. I was paid to get rid of a royal Lycia brat. Who knew it would be this much trouble." Zagu rolled the shoulder with the ax leaning on it. The huge blade fell forward and stopped with the sharp side just millimeters from the ground. Muscles big as Lyn's head tensed in Zagu's arm as he held the axe steady enough to balance a pin on its head.

"I've no clue who you are or why someone would pay you to kill me, but I've never been to Lycia in my entire life," Lyn said. She tilted her head forward slightly, letting her bangs fall past her ears. The strands of hair darkened her eyes but a glint of sunlight remained in them making them appear to glow. "What I do know is that you've threatened me and kidnapped my master. And that is something that I cannot forgive you for. Let Lloyd go."

"Why would I let go of the only bargaining chip I have?" Zagu asked. "Your master you say? How much is he worth to you?" Zagu arched an eyebrow. "Would you be willing to trade places with him? And what kind of master is kidnapped so easily?"

"Ugh…" Lloyd grunted. "I've had enough of this. And I can't reach my apples; time to get down off of this oaf."

Zagu shook Lloyd. "I told you to keep quiet, whelp!"

"Oh my," Lloyd said loudly with a dramatic sigh. "What's a man to do when an ugly bandit with no armor on is holding him hostage over his shoulder?"

"I said shut it!" Zagu grabbed Lloyd's leg and pulled. His intension was obviously to slam Lloyd's back onto the ground. Instead, what he smashed into the ground was a log that was about Lloyd's height and weight. It even had a crude carving of Lloyd's face sticking its tongue out where his head would have been. "Wh-what?"

_***Thump***_

"Whoa!" Zagu threw his hands out, which involved him throwing his axe to the side to prevent impaling himself, to stop his fall. Lloyd had kicked his butt. When he looked up, the end of a katana was suddenly about to give him a mortal shave.

"I think we've won this, why don't you go back to your employer and tell him that I'm noo-aaaah!" Zagu swatted Lyn's katana out of her hands with a single blow and scooped her up in his arms. "Put me down you filthy bandit!"

Lyn thrashed about on Zagu's shoulders, kicking and screaming for all her worth. Had she not been in mortal danger, she would have berated herself for being so unprepared. Lesson one once more flashed through her mind and caused her to scream louder and kick harder.

Sain and Kent both were leaning forward in their saddles, their weapons clenched tightly in their shaking fists. It was in their eyes, they wanted to charge, to kill this vagrant on the spot. But it was what was in Zagu's eyes that stopped them, a look of pure evil and total disregard for Lyn's life. Before they could move, however, Lloyd's voice cried out from behind Zagu. "Hey, ugly!"

Zagu turned his head and barely had time to recognize what was shooting straight for his head as a big, red, and juicy apple, before it struck him right between the eyes. The small area of impact caved in and Zagu's eyes rolled back. Lyn was thrown free of the big man's body as he fell forward.

Lloyd walked up to Lyn as she was getting back to her feet. He had his arms crossed and a frown on his brow. Kent and Sain watched on with a mixture of horror and wonder on their faces. "Lyn," Lloyd said to the kneeling woman, voice hard and stern; if any of his companions from Aselia had been present, Lloyd wouldn't have been surprised if they had stared at him as well for sounding so much like his father. Lyn reacted automatically to the voice and flinched, looking up at the brunet shyly as she grasped her katana in one hand. To the two knights, they really did look as Master and Pupil. "You know that you forgot _the_ lesson, correct?"

Lyn bowed her head. "Yes, Lloyd… I forgot lesson one, always be aware and ready to move." Her head shot up and she stared Lloyd in the eyes. Her emerald eyes narrowing as silence filled the space between them. "I swear it will never happen again."

"Actually, you're right about lesson one, but there's another one that I'm referring to that you seem to have utterly forgot." Lloyd frowned himself, his own eyes narrowing as if she'd made a truly grave error and was disappointed in her inability to see what it was. "One that just saved your life…"

Lyn frowned as she thought back to moments before. In the corner of her eye, she saw the now bruised apple being pushed around on the ground by the wind before Kent's horse casually snapped it up with a crunch. Then it came to her.

"Lesson three," she said, "Always eat when you can because you never know when you'll get another chance."

"Exactly," Lloyd said, grinning and hopping lightly into the air. "Food isn't just for eating you know, it's also can be used as a weapon. And thus lesson four."

"Oh, Sir Lloyd, I might know this lesson!" Sain said. Everyone looked at Sain, startled. He smirked and said, "When one so beautiful is in danger, even something as mundane as an apple will become as deadly as hardened steel in the hands of her beloved!"

Kent shook his head and moaned into his hand. He did nothing to stop the pebble Lyn threw at Sain or the apple that Lloyd knocked Sain out with. The loyal knight of Caelin instead listened as Lloyd finished what he was saying, completely ignoring the unconscious brunet knight as he fell from his saddle.

"Lesson four, anything can be a weapon, from a sword down to a flimsy stick. The human body is very fragile when it comes right down to it, and if you're not careful, can easily be stopped without even killing the person."

Lyn's mouth fell slightly as the idea of a bloodless defeat entered her mind for the first time. Before she could even ask, as her mouth was already open and the words forming, Lloyd held up a hand. He wiggled his pointer finger back and forth. "That's another lesson," he said.

"Well met, Sir Lloyd," Kent said. He sheathed his sword and dismounted. As he gathered the reins of both his and Sain's destrier, he moved toward Lloyd and Lyn. Sain mumbled something in his apple induced sleep about bar maidens. "I do apologize for my companion's behavior earlier. If I were allowed to explain, I believe that all would become clear."

---Later that night in the forest south of Bulgar---

"So, Sain, tell us about yourself," Lloyd said. He leaned back against the log behind him and soaked up the crackling fire in front of him. Lloyd's eyes closed as Sain's lit up. He knew that they were most likely in for a long night, but he wanted to hear more about the two knights that had decided to travel with them for the time being. Lyn rolled her eyes as she started to eat a bit of the stew Lloyd had prepared for the evening meal. Kent merely kept on tending to the horses, having heard the story before.

"I was raised in the small village of Cabernon, north of Caelin's castle city. I was the only son, with four older siblings and one younger." Sain said, and Lloyd immediately saw where Sain's attitude towards woman had begun. "My father died shortly after the birth of my younger sister Belle, leaving me as the only male in the household to look after my mother and sisters. Unfortunately, this passed on quite the stigma, and the other men in my village … were not so courteous in their words towards me. When I was twelve, however, a small squadron of Caelin knights stopped in Cabernon for a night, and I joined the small group of boys who listened to their words. I was inspired, and because of the fact that my sisters and mother were fine with their clothes shop, I was allowed to accompany the knights back to Caelin castle." Concluding with a smile, Sain sat down once again and began to finish off his bowl of stew, which he had set aside when Lloyd spoke up.

"They told you that all of the pretty women threw themselves at knights, didn't they?" Lloyd commented drily, making Lyn snort in amusement. Sain shot Lloyd a glare that was half wounded, half offended. Lloyd gave Sain a bored stare in return, and turned to speak with Kent as the knight walked back to them. "And you, Kent? How did you get drawn into this insane knighting business?" Lloyd asked, smiling wryly. Kent sat down and helped himself to a bowl of stew before beginning.

"My family breeds horses for the Caelin knights to use in combat." He said simply. "Our ranch is near General Wallace's estates, and my siblings and I were trained to fight to help defend the horses from thieves and wolves. The general saw this, and since I was the eldest overall, asked me to accompany him back to the castle Caelin the autumn after my tenth birthday. I was originally only going to be a hostler, but I was soon drawn into the page's studies, and that was that." He shook his head and finished his soup, making Lloyd smile; Kent's story explained a few things to him, especially as to why the horses – named Striker and Romeo, he had found out – were so subdued around the carrot top.

"I've heard of this General Wallace," Lloyd said. "It wasn't too long ago, maybe three months at the most, that I was last in Lycia." Kent and Sain looked up, clearly interested. Lyn as well looked interested, but remained focused on the food in front of her.

"Oh?" Kent asked. "I was under the impression that you were also of Sacea."

"Yes," Sain said, "The way you handled yourself today was no fighting style I've ever seen in Lycia."

Lloyd chuckled and shook his head. "That would be because it isn't a fighting style native to this place. I picked it up a while ago… but anyway, back to the General. I'd heard he was retiring. There was supposed to be this big celebration or something. At least, that's what the merchant I spoke with said."

"You heard true," Kent said. "Not two moons ago General Wallace returned to his estate in the country. It was an emotional farewell for many of the troops, Sain and myself included."

"Alas," Sain said, "the good General was our commander. He trained us in the arts of war and manliness. It was a true shame to see him go."

They all fell into silence after that. They ate, well, everyone but Lloyd ate. Lloyd's piercing eyes were downcast as the new information supplied by Kent settled in; Lyn being a royal targeted by her Great Uncle Lundgren in some kind of inheritance dispute, her grandfather near death wanting to see Lyn before he kicked it … it was all so complicated, and Lloyd could feel his instincts starting to rumble with unease.

Something about this smelled like Nergal. '_Could he be trying to gain a foothold in the Lycia region by installing a puppet Lord?_' Lloyd wondered. '_I don't know why, but this whole thing stinks of his wrinkly old face, eye-patch and everything. I'll just have to make sure everything goes as it should if that's the case. Don't need old snake eye getting any more hold on this world._'

The silence became too much for Lyn to bear and she cleared her throat, loudly. She set her bowl down and said, "Lloyd, I recall you saying that you'd tell me about your journey before we met. Now seems like a good time, don't you think?"

Lloyd smiled, happy for the distraction. "Why, yes. I did, didn't I?" Lyn nodded. Kent and Sain also seemed interested in the tale about to unfold. "Where do I start…" Lloyd thought back to his entrance into this world over a year ago. In some sort of ruins, and Nergal… Of course he hadn't known it was Nergal back then. "Ah yes," Lloyd said. "As I said before, I was chasing a man. He has something I need and as such I have to find him, but he's a very… _slippery_ fellow. I'd just lost his trail in the plains. Then those bandits attacked. And now I'm here. However,"

Lloyd held his hand up, as he'd seen Raine do hundreds of times when she was lecturing. He liked to think his stories were much more interesting than hers were… even though she never told "stories". Everyone looked interested, including Lyn, even though she'd heard most of that already.

"However, I first started my journey in the foul man's presence. I was totally out of it, lying on the floor of some kind of ruins when he showed up. How I got there, I'm not that sure. But shortly after the man showed up, he cast some spell and then I got a mouthful of snow."

"Snow!" Sain said. "Do you mean you were teleported to Ilia?"

"Shh," Kent said, elbowing his fellow knight. "Let him tell the story."

"Yes, Sain, I suddenly found myself in Ilia. A good priest happened upon my near dead body. He took me into his nearby sanctuary and nursed me back to health. When I was healthy enough, I had to figure out what to do. I didn't even know the foul man's name. So I asked the priest where I could possibly find more information. Being in the middle of the wilds, there wasn't much in the way of tavern gossip that I could tap into. So the priest suggested I head to a port on the border with Etruria."

"Etruria?" Lyn tilled her head to the side. "I wasn't aware that Etruria and Ilia met near the sea."

"Normally they don't," Lloyd explained, "however, it was winter at the time and ice had formed a land bridge between the two nations. It happens often enough that the people in the area set up a temporary port whenever it happens to do business with the ships that travel there."

"Excuse me, Sir Lloyd, but did you say that it was winter?" Kent asked. "I've heard that Ilian winter's are the worst imaginable. How did you manage to travel at all?"

"Ah, that's where the interesting part comes in," Lloyd said. He leaned back on the log and let his head hang back. "It happened only a few days after I arrived at the sanctuary. A break in the blizzard allowed a winged rider to arrive with supplies for the priest. I managed to barter a ride out of the girl to the port town."

"You got a ride from a Pegasus Knight?!" Sain asked. "How wondrous would that be, to fly freely through the air with a fair maiden riding in the saddle, not a soul for miles-ouch!" Sain rubbed his side as Kent retracted his elbow. A frown of tried patience was etched onto Kent's features. "Excuse me," Sain said, "I lost myself for a moment."

"Hardly a moment," Kent snorted. He nodded at Lloyd. "Do go on."

"Heh, yeah, sure." Lloyd chuckled to himself. Lyn yawned suddenly, but tried to hide it when she noticed the look Lloyd gave her. "Maybe we should call it a night there. It has been a long day and tomorrow promises to be even longer."

"Oh, promise you will tell more?" Lyn hastily asked.

"Of course," Lloyd said with a grin. "And now for lesson five."

Lyn groaned. "Can't we save the lessons for when we're well rested?" She stood up and started to search about the camp site. Sain and Kent approached the supplies attached to Striker and Romeo. Lloyd cracked a grin and remained right where he was. "Lloyd!" Lyn shouted. "Come over here and help me find the tent."

"What tent?" Lloyd asked. He closed his eyes as he settled back onto the log, relaxing his legs. "I don't recall any tent."

"Fear not," he heard Sain say, "you may… Where did my tent go?! It's gone!"

"Mine as well," Kent added seconds later. "It would appear we have been robbed."

"No…" Lyn said. Lloyd heard footsteps approach him, softer and smaller than the heavy knight boots. "I think I know what happened to them."

Silence fell over the camp as the feet came to a stop next to Lloyd. He cracked an eye and peeked out at Lyn standing over him, Kent and Sain staring curiously from behind her. Lyn's face was impassive but her emerald eyes told Lloyd everything he needed to know.

"What happened to our tents, Lloyd?" Lyn asked calmly.

"Lesson Five," Lloyd said. He paused in the middle of speaking to yawn, his mouth gaping open wide. "Wilderness survival: in short, no tents. Get some sleep."

"How are we supposed to sleep if it rains or if some animal comes by?" Lyn asked. She had her hands balled into fists leaning on her hips. If Lloyd had his eyes open, he'd of seen the spitting image of a very angry Professor Sage. However, he was beyond Lyn at that moment, made evident by the light snoring emitted from his nose.

"It would appear he's already fallen asleep…" Kent said. "Very well. Milady, please take your rest. Sain and I will keep watch for the night." Kent headed off any objections by adding, "I'll take first watch. And don't complain Sain, you know as well as I do that we've been slacking off on our own training in this field."

"You know," Sain said in a low voice barely above a whisper, "it's strange, but sometimes, I swear Kent is really my mother in disguise." Lyn nodded. She took one last glare down at Lloyd and then started pacing about, looking for a good spot. Once found, both she and Sain were out. Sain of course simply dumped himself on the ground where he was standing: Kent, who was listening, shook his head as Striker and Romeo snorted in what seemed to be amusement.

Several hours into the moonless night, Lloyd sat up. Kent glanced over the crackling flames at Lloyd as he stood up and stretched. Lloyd was moving as if he'd been awake the whole time, his eyes were even fully alert as Kent watched Lloyd scan the camp site and the forest around them.

"Did you sleep well?" Kent asked.

Lloyd yawned after scanning the camp, nodding as he did so. "I'll take next watch," Lloyd said, "get some rest."

Kent nodded and quickly found his way into a deep sleep. Lloyd watched this happen and stretched his arms above his head. After taking a quick jog away from the camp, Lloyd bent down and leaped into the branches of a tree.

A short scuffle broke out in the silence, but was quickly finished. Lloyd jumped back down seconds later, a bloody smear on his cheek and a body under each arm. After making sure that no one had woken up, Lloyd carried the bodies to a stream and dumped the bodies into the water. He watched silently as they floated down beyond his sight.

'_And here I thought it was just going to be thugs Lundgren sent after her,_' Lloyd thought. '_It would appear he's more serious about this than I thought. I'll have to be on the lookout._' Lloyd crossed his arms as he turned and started back to the camp. '_Still, if they're that easy to spot, then heaven knows it won't be that difficult. I'll have to teach Lyn about listening to her surroundings though, in case this happens when I'm not around._'

The next morning, Lyn felt sharp explosion of cold on her face. She woke up in the middle of her body reactively standing on its own, water cascading off of her. She sputtered for a moment, confusion and fear roiling around in her post dream fogged mind.

When she finally got her bearings, she found herself knee deep in a stream. The stars were still out, though a tinge of pink tantalized them from the west. The air was moist with the morning dew. And Lloyd was standing on the riverbank with his arms folded.

"Lloyd!" she yelled. She glanced about but found the two of them alone. "Why did you throw me into the water?!"

Lloyd remained silent as Lyn waded through the water to the edge of the stream and pulled herself out. Water drained from her body, her clothes giving up rivulets of water like a squeezed sponge. Her hair stuck to her face and neck, giving the girl a wet, bedraggled look that Lloyd instantly found attractive and instantly made him look away.

"I told you that it was time to train and you didn't want to wake up," Lloyd said as Lyn pulled the hair tie away from her head and bent forward quickly. All her hair whipped around to hang down in front of her. She gathered the deep green strands together with her hands and wrung the water from them. The clear liquid splattered on the ground in several gushes that grew smaller with each wringing.

Satisfied, Lyn gathered her hair back together and put the tie back in. Standing tall once more, she gave Lloyd a reproachful look. He responded with pointing toward a clearing next to the stream. Shaking her head, she followed Lloyd into the clearing.

"Sleep well?" Lloyd inquired. Lyn scowled but remained silent as she came to a stop. Had Lloyd been facing the other way, he would have seen daggers being stared into his chest. As it was, they were being stared into his back.

Sain and Kent appeared on the edge of the clearing shortly after master and pupil began their session. They watched Lloyd dodge every one of Lyn's strikes, parrying her slashes with the palms of his hands, and sometimes moving so fast that he knocked the blade from the girl's hand.

By early morning, the four of them were on the road again. Sain and Lloyd still had a muffin stuffed in their mouths from the light breakfast of the morning. Kent rode Striker a couple yards ahead of the group, playing the scout as he put it. Lyn limped along, her body totally worn out just from the training.

"I never thought I'd feel like this again," Lyn muttered. She swung her arm around and winced as the sore muscle stretched. "The last time had to be six years ago."

"The road to success is hard and full of peril," Lloyd said. He lifted the muffin in his hand to his mouth and took a gratuitous chuck out of its sweet fluffy body.

"And if we're lucky," Sain added, "we'll have fresh muffins along the way." As if to punctuate his point, Sain stuffed the rest of his muffin into his mouth. Crumbs fell from his mouth as the fluffy cake was consumed by the ravenous knight's mouth. Lyn watched Lloyd look at his muffin, shrug, and then follow Sain's example. Both muffins were soon casualties of hungry mouths.

"Lloyd…" Lloyd paused in his muffin munching to glance at Lyn. She held her side, which he knew was sore after the jab he'd used, but that wasn't what she wanted to talk about. Her concerned frown obviously meant she was thinking of something else, a fact which Lloyd could also see reflected in her emerald irises staring hard at the grass passing beneath their feet.

"What is it?" Lloyd asked, audibly swallowing the muffing. He suddenly had a hankering for milk.

"I would have you allow me a short detour," she said. She looked up into Lloyd's eyes, seeking his permission. "There is a sacred sword enshrined a little to the east of here. My people often go there to pray for safety at the onset of a long journey."

"Oh?" Sain said, picking up on the request (if he hadn't known that elves didn't exist on Elibe, Lloyd would've thought Sain was a half elf; he certainly had the hearing of one). He grinned. "How quaint…"

Lloyd put his hand to his chin, stroking the shadowy beard growth that had yet to be shaved off. He had trouble keeping his grin from appearing, attempting to make Lyn sweat a little. She looked like she was about to dismiss the whole suggestion when Lloyd said, "Sure, alright."

"Thank you!" Lyn said. Her relief was evident in her easier breathing. She looked at Lloyd in a cock-eyed way for a half second before she sped up her pace. Limping and wobbling as she was, she caught up to Kent and informed him of the new plans.

"Are you mad?" Sain asked when Lyn was out of ear shot. "Lord Lundgren's men will probably be scouring the countryside for her. Any delays could be fatal."

Lloyd shrugged. "She needs hope. Especially in times like these. And faith can be a powerful motivator in trying times." Sain regarded Lloyd warily, but remained silent. "Besides," Lloyd added, laughing lightly "it's a sacred shrine. What could go wrong?"

* * *

A big, burly bandit backhanded a small frail man in the face. A giant ax attached to his back made the big man look taller and meaner as he then proceeded to kick the downed priest. No matter how much the man begged, the bandit continued his assault until there was a hole in the man's chest and a pool of red staining the floor.

"Hey, Glass," the bandit called out the door of the temple, "I took care of the guard. It was just some weak ass priest. I left the head priest all alone. Just like you said, he's in the back." From the bushes, a smaller, yet no less muscular man approached, a naked broadsword lying across his one shoulder. A smirk spread across his face as he stepped on the bleeding corpse and walked into the temple, his lackeys behind him.

Inside the shrine, an old, frail pastor and a younger cleric spun around as the sound of the guard's body falling. Without sparing a moment, the pastor turned to the cleric and shoved her out a side door in the wall, and then settled himself before the marble and onyx altar in the center of the shrine, gripping his teak staff in both hands as Glass and his henchmen approached. "You have come for the Mani Katti, have you not?" The pastor asked in his frail voice, gripping his staff tightly in his thin hands. Glass looked at the elderly man in disdain, his grip on his broadsword tightening.

"Hand over the sword, old cripple. It belongs to me now." Glass stated, stepping forward, his hand extending to the white and silver katana that was embedded deeply into the stone. A smirk came across his face. "A peerless blade for a peerless swordsman like myself, how fitting is that?" He asked his men, who laughed.

"You cannot: the Mani Katti alone can choose its wielder. No person other than the one who the sword has chosen will be able to draw it from the divine stones the angel blessed us with." The pastor spoke up, shaking his head. Glass ignored him, and grasped the sword. Sparks of white energy shot out from where his hand touched it and Glass snapped it back with a hiss; there were burns where the gauntlets he wore didn't cover his hand. The pastor shook his head solemnly. "The spirits of the sword have found you wanting, and they have rejected you." He stated.

Glass looked at him and growled. "Shut up, you coward!" He lunged, missing the pastor as the elderly man retreated back into a corner room, sealing the doorway shut behind him. Not bothered too much by the man's retreat, Glass looked at his five men. "Alright, dogs, go and guard this place! We're staying here until the sword realizes that I'm its new owner!"

Unbeknownst to Glass and his men, the cleric had managed to run out onto the road, gasping for breath as she looked for help. Her eyes were darting around wildly, and she was startled to see the group that consisted of Lloyd, Lyn, Kent and Sain as they approached the shrine. Dropping her staff, she ran towards them again, tripping over the hem of her robes more than once.

Sain spotted her first. "What ho?" He called out, shielding his eyes from the sun with his eyes. A smile pulled at his lips as he called out, "Milady, it seems that one of the clerics has come to greet us! Such a fortuitous day!"

"Actually, it looks like she's been scared witless." Lloyd countered, his angelic eyesight allowing him to read the cleric's face. Pulling out an apple, Lloyd began to munch on it while his mind worked away. "Let us go and meet her, shall we? Kent, dig out one of the spare canteens we have, the poor girl's going to be parched when she reaches us." Kent nodded and began to dig around in one of Striker's saddlebags as the group walked towards the cleric, Lyn beside Lloyd.

"Lloyd, how can you tell that she's frightened?" She asked, giving Lloyd a suspicious glance. "She's far enough away from us that _I _can barely tell what she is, and yet you can read the emotions on her face?" Lloyd looked at her calmly, swallowing the chunk of apple that was in his mouth before responding.

"Considering the fact that she's coming towards us at a dead run in this temperature, I would figure that she would be at least frightened." He explained, taking another bite out of his apple. Lyn thought about this for a moment, and then nodded: that made some logical sense. Seeing that Sain was about to prepare a flirtatious statement to greet the cleric, Lloyd and Lyn sped up, keeping pace with the two cavalry men as they reached the girl.

Handing the young woman the canteen, Kent asked gently, "Miss, is there something wrong?" The cleric drained the canteen, gulping down the water before passing it back to Kent. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she looked at Lyn. Recognizing her as a member of one of the many tribes, she relaxed.

"Miss, were you planning to go to pray at the shrine?" She asked, voice filled with worry as she clasped her hands. When Lyn nodded, the cleric stood up and pleaded, "Please, you must hurry! A group of ruffians has invaded, planning on stealing the Mani Katti!" Lyn's eyes grew wide.

"They would try to steal the Mani Katti! Those … those …" Unable to find words to express her rage, she turned to Lloyd, who was still munching on his apple. "Lloyd, please, we must help! The Mani Katti is a sacred sword … if those bandits steal it, it will cause much chaos!" When Lloyd didn't respond right away, Lyn began to beg. "Lloyd, please!!"

"Lyn, a man can't answer a question when he has food in his mouth: that's bad table manners. I had bad table manners beaten out of me at a young age, so give me some time to finish eating before I respond." Lloyd lectured softly, cutting off Lyn's pleading as he swallowed a chunk of apple flesh. Once Lyn had let out a soft 'oh' noise, Lloyd looked at the temple and nodded to himself. "As it stands right now, we should head out for the shrine. If a powerful religious artifact is stolen, then chaos will ensure." Thinking briefly over the disappearance of the Tower of Salvation, he nodded to the cleric. "Don't worry, miss: these three here will have those bandits out of the way in no time." When the cleric nodded her head, Lloyd turned to the other three and gave them a dangerous smile. "Well, let's go crash this party, shall we?" he asked.

Lyn nodded and immediately set off toward the shrine. Kent and Sain gave one another a knowing look before spurring Striker and Romeo into a fast canter, easily outpacing Lyn. Lloyd looked after them and shook his head. "Such eager children, aren't they?" He asked himself before following behind them casually, still eating his apple.

One of Glass' guards saw the three fighters approaching turned to Glass, who was still trying to draw the Mani Katti from its stone resting place. "Sir! There are two horsemen and a sword-wielding wench heading towards the shrine!" he said as he put a hand on his axe. Glass looked up from the sword, and walked over to peer out of the window. He saw Kent and Sain draw their swords as they neared the shrine, Lyn right behind them. Scowling, he turned to the rest of his men, his grip on the broadsword tightening.

"Get out there and get rid of those roaches, men!" He announced, stalking over to stand in front of the Mani Katti. "If they get this far, I'll cut them down myself!" The other five bandits shouted out their agreement, and they all lumbered out of the shrine, the slowest blocking the entrance as the rest swarmed out towards the three approaching them.

One of the bandits wielded a sword, and he was charging straight at Lyn. Kent and Sain saw this, and nodded to one another. Kent broke off of his charge to attack the bandits with axes, leaving Sain to deal with the sword wielder. Placing his sword back in its scabbard, Sain drew the lance from its saddle holster. Just as the weapon cleared the leather, the sword swung towards the brunet knight and Romeo, who reared with a neigh, his huge hooves hitting the bandit in his chest. The man was thrown a good five feet, and when he came down, Sain raced up on Romeo's back and impaled the man with his lance.

"And people wonder why knights so rarely get hurt while on horseback." Lloyd commented from behind him, making the knight look at him in shock. When did he get here? He was behind Lyn only a moment ago… Seemingly seeing Sain's shocked look, Lloyd chuckled and smiled mysteriously at him. "Put the lance away and go help Kent: he's getting ganged up on." Pointing, Lloyd arched an eyebrow as Sain swore and turned Romeo, heading to aid his friend, who seemed to be sporting a few nasty wounds. "I wonder …" Lloyd thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "Nah, I'm imagining things."

"Imagining what things, Lloyd?" Lyn asked, sliding to a stop near Lloyd. Lloyd shook his head, and pointed at the bandit guarding the entrance to the shrine: he was looking like he was about ready to join the three that were getting beaten into a pulp by Kent and Sain, with Romeo and Striker helping out, their hooves flailing as they reared and kicked out. Lyn looked at the sentry with narrowed eyes. "Don't worry, Lloyd, I'll take him out before he can blink. You go and help the knights." She reassured Lloyd, her voice making Lloyd smile and nod in complete confidence as he began to walk over to where Kent and Sain were.

"I trust you won't get yourself killed." Lloyd called over his shoulder with a smirk, and then waved a hand behind him as he sped off to help Kent and Sain, his cloak flapping behind him. The hood was lifted up over his face, revealing the scarlet wing pattern that had been hidden beneath it. As it was the first time Lyn had seen it, she gawped for a moment.

'_Why does Lloyd …?'_ She wondered and then shook her head. _'Now's not the time to be worried about that: I have something to take care of.'_ With that thought, Lyn snuck off towards the bandit, her katana light in her hand. The man didn't even see her coming until she had nearly removed his left arm with a single sword slash. Roaring in pain, he brought his axe down to cleave Lyn in two. With the first lesson running through her head, Lyn dodged the axe nimbly, using the momentum of her attack to spin around and slash the man's neck wide open, killing him.

As the body fell to the ground, Lyn took the opportunity to rummage through his pack. Upon finding a vulnerary and a good sized amount of gold, she stored them in her own pack before looking to see how Kent, Sain and Lloyd were fairing. The three were heading towards her, both of the knights covered in blood. Kent seemed to be leaning against Striker's neck as Sain led the destrier, the brunet's hazel-green eyes worried. Lyn, concerned, walked towards them. "What happened?" She asked, looking Kent over.

"One of the bandits managed to land a bad hit on his sword arm: nothing's broken, but he's still not in much shape to fight for a day." Lloyd explained, his hand grasping Kent's arm as he smeared a vulnerary onto the wound. "But the rest of the bandits that were attacking us are dead, so let us go on into the shrine, shall we?" Taking Striker's reins from Sain, Lloyd nodded to Lyn. "Go on, Lyn: I'll be right behind you." Lyn nodded, and then looked up at Sain.

"Let's go." She said, extending an arm towards him. Sain, understanding what she wanted, swung her up behind him in the saddle, and they galloped into the shrine. Once he was certain that the two were out of his line of sight before sighing and grasping Kent's arm, his hand coated in pale green mana. Pushing the energy into Kent, Lloyd was satisfied to see that the wound lessened slightly. Tugging on Striker's reins, Lloyd led the horse towards the entrance just in time to see Lyn swing off of Romeo to plant herself feet first into Glass' chest, sending the brigand to the floor while Lyn rolled off of him.

"Well done, Milady!" Sain called out, moving to keep himself and Romeo between Glass and the entrance. Glass glowered at the knight as he got back to his feet, chest heaving. Lyn nodded in response, and then charged Glass while the man charged at Sain. Her katana gouged a deep blow on the man's back, making him shout and turn around, nearly nailing Lyn in the face with the flat of his sword. But Lyn had ducked, rolled away, and dodged both Glass' sword and Romeo's hooves.

Getting to her feet a good distance away, Lyn glared at Glass with untold hatred. "What did you hope to accomplish by stealing the Mani Katti? That sword will do nothing but foul deeds in your hands!" She shouted, to which Glass laughed coldly.

"That sword should go to the best of the sword masters that there is!" He shouted, earning a dark laugh from Lloyd. As the man turned to glare at the tactician as best as he could, Lyn charged him again, slipping out of sight as she slashed out quickly. By the time Glass registered the blows, Lyn had come to a stop behind him, katana flashing in the air as she slashed through Glass' back, neatly cutting his spine in two.

As the body fell in two pieces to the ground, Lloyd walked into the temple, a dark look on his face as he stared down at Glass' remains. "The greatest swordsman is not one who enjoys using his blade to kill. The greatest swordsman is one who will use his sword to defend those that they hold precious." Lyn and Sain looked at him with worry.

"Lloyd, is something wrong?" Lyn asked gently, wiping off her katana. Lloyd look up at her, and for a brief moment, Lyn swore she saw grief and pain flashing through his wine red eyes. The emotions quickly vanished, and Lloyd smiled at her and shook his head, making Lyn wonder what was going on in the man's mind. _'Lloyd, what're you thinking about …?'_ Lyn's thoughts were cut off as the pastor emerged from the small alcove he hid in. The pastor headed towards Lyn with a grateful smile on his face.

"Thank you, child of the Lorca." He said softly, recognizing Lyn's clothing. Lyn smiled back at the man and bowed in return to his thanks, just as much to show her respect to him as to hide the blush that was forming across her face.

"I am Lyn of the Lorca tribe," Lyn said. "We've come here to pray for a safe journey on a perilous quest."

Smiling, the pastor placed a thin, wrinkled hand on Lyn's shoulder, saying softly, "I am grateful that you arrived when you did, or else I fear the Mani Kati would not be here now. In thanks, I will allow you to lay your hands upon the Mani Katti." Lyn's head shot up, and she stared at the pastor, awed.

"I … Thank you …." She gasped out, and turned her gaze to the elegant katana, her eyes lingering on the white and silver blade before her hands reached out towards the hilt. The instant her fingers wrapped around the leather wrappings, a flash of light illuminated the shrine, making Lyn gasp in shock. Lloyd's eyebrows shot up, and Sain was forced to look away, both of them calling out Lyn's name in shock. Horrified, Lyn turned to the pastor. "Sir, what … why …?"

The pastor studied Lyn for a long moment. "Child, try to draw the Mani Katti from where it rests." He stated calmly, his old eyes brightening as he looked Lyn over. With a gulp and a glance at Lloyd, who nodded, Lyn tightened her grip on the Mani Katti and tugged. With a flash of light, the sword slid from the marble and onyx altar that it had been encased in. As the sword settled into Lyn's hands, it glowed brightly, the silver and white shimmering.

"It … it came out effortlessly …" Lyn whispered, her eyes widening as she looked up at the pastor. As she spoke, a soft humming reached her ears, and she looked at the Mani Katti again. "What?? Why is the sword …!! It's vibrating and humming!" She looked worried, but her grasp on the Mani Katti never once faltered. "Pastor, is this … why is the Mani Katti doing this?!"

"The glow is because the Mani Katti has accepted you, dear one. It is your sword now." With a nod, the pastor's eyes closed, and he let out a wispy sigh. "It seems that you are also doubly blessed, Lyn. The sword will only vibrate when an angel is present, for it was an angelic smith who made this sword before it was bestowed upon humanity. This must be a sign of good fortune, for an angel would rarely come down to the mortal plane, with such darkness in the land." Lloyd involuntarily stiffened at that: the sword was reacting to _him._

Fighting off the impulse to turn and flee the chamber, Lloyd let go of Striker's reins and walked over to Lyn, smiling in spite of his fear at the sight of Lyn's face. Her shocked expression was lit from below by the Mani Katti's glow, making her emerald eyes shine like the morning sun in the dim interior. Laying a hand on Lyn's shoulder, Lloyd smiled at her when she looked at him. "It is a good sword, Lyn. Do not be afraid to use it." Lyn thought for a moment, and then smiled at Lloyd.

Turning to the pastor, she bowed. "Thank you, sire. I will make sure nothing shall befall my sword. May Father Sky and Mother Earth look after you in all your life." She stated softly, to which the pastor nodded and bowed as well. Turning to Lloyd and Sain again, Lyn smiled. "Well, let's go set up camp, shall we? I don't doubt that I'm the only hungry one here." Lloyd smiled at her and turned to Sain with a nod, who nodded weakly in return and went to gather Striker's reins; even though Kent had begun to wake up, he wasn't in good enough shape to take charge of his horse. Lloyd followed the knights out, with Lyn standing in the shrine alone, smiling down at the sword.

'_To think … the greatest sword of all Sacae … chose me.'_ She thought to herself, tightening her grip on the Mani Katti again. A thought came to her then. _'But was it just me …or did it begin to vibrate more rapidly when Lloyd was closer to me?'_ After a moment, she shook her head, and with a final smile at the pastor, she left the shrine, her sword in hand.

* * *

Rekka Omake!

Working Under Pressure

Lloyd is normal, _Lyn is italics_, **Kent is bold**, Sain is underlined

**I'm impressed at how well you handled yourself yesterday, Sir Lloyd. You didn't look the least bit panicked even though you didn't have any weapons to defend yourself with.**  
It was nothing, honest.  
_No, Lloyd, you really are insanely calm when any normal person would be going out of their minds. How do you do it?_  
I just did what I've always done when working under pressure.  
And that is?  
I resorted to what was most important to me...  
Apples?  
… Not exactly … *sweatdrop*

_

* * *

Li:_ And that's all folks! We'll see you next chapter!!


	4. New Recruits

**Lloyd: **Where did those two go… Hello?  
*silence*  
**Lloyd**: Oh Martel, thank you, thank you, thank you-  
Valiant: *appears* Whoo, that was fun. Lloyd, never jump into a black hole, they're hell on your back… ow…  
_Li:_ *appears behind V* Let's do that again!!!  
**Lloyd:** WHY!? Will I ever be free of you two!?  
Valiant: Mwaaaaaahahahahahahaaaaaaa-No.

* * *

Chapter Three: New Recruits

"Ow…" Lyn grabbed her midsection as she forced her legs to keep up with the others. Her muscles screamed along her nerves every time she moved. Walking so quickly made it feel like an entire orchestra was playing. Ignoring the pain, Lyn pushed her legs ahead anyway. She gained a deranged pleasure from overpowering her body's wants with sheer will power. While the maddening pleasure didn't make her feel any less pain, it did fuel her resolve to keep pushing forward.

"You shouldn't push yourself too hard," Kent said. Lyn glanced up, her bangs plastered with sweat to her forehead. She gave the knight, who gazed back over his shoulder at her, a rueful smile that felt, to her, more like a feral grin she might give a piece of succulent meat. Kent frowned.

"Don't worry about her Kent," Lloyd said. "Lyn's got enough strength to keep going till we reach the next town. I made sure she ate meat last night and this morning, as well as plenty of breads and vegetables. She's probably got more energy in her now than Romeo over there." The destrier in question snorted his opinion, but none took notice.

"It sure doesn't feel that way," Lyn said through her gritted teeth. "It's taking everything I've got to keep walking… Ah!" Lyn's feet were pulled out from underneath her. She tried to push her hands out in front of her to stop the fall, but the fatigue in her muscles made them feel like Jello and they were slow to react. Lyn ended up face down in the dirt road with a small pebble kissing her. "Oww…"

"Lady Lyndis!" Kent shouted. He stopped Striker and hopped off with practiced ease. Sain, ahead by ten paces, stopped Romeo when he heard the commotion. He turned around and saw Lloyd holding Kent by the back of his armor as he struggled to get to Lyn. "Lloyd, what kind of insensitive cretin are you not to help Lady Lyndis when she's fallen? She could be seriously injured. Let… Me… Go!"

"As tempting as it would be to watch you fall flat on your face," Lloyd said, "no, I don't think so. Lyn needs to be able to pick herself up and keep going."

Kent stopped pulling away from Lloyd, rounded on him, and got right into his face. With only space enough to fit a sheet of paper between the two noses, Kent opened his mouth to speak. Lloyd's hardened face made it obvious that he didn't care what Kent was about to say or what Kent thought on the matter. It was a very bored expression.

"Kent, no," Lyn said. She grunted as she pushed herself to her knees. Kent closed his mouth and took a step back, but he continued to glare at Lloyd. "No, Lloyd is right. I have to get stronger. I swore I would before I came on this journey. If I cannot get stronger then I might as well retire back to the plains. And I would so like to meet my grandfather, so if you would, Kent, please allow Lloyd to train me in his fashion. I trust him. You've seen how strong he is. Lloyd must know what he is doing if he can defeat bandits barehanded."

Kent pushed his lips together until they turned white. He took a moment to let the wheels turn in his head as Lyn pleaded with her emerald eyes. Sain, using tongue clicks and knee pressure to guide Romeo, came to a stop next to Lloyd.

"What's going on?" Sain asked Lloyd with a hand cupped to his mouth. Without looking up, Lloyd shrugged. Sain shrugged in response and settled into his saddle to watch the stare-down.

"As you wish, Lady Lyndis," Kent said finally. "But please, if you need any help, don't hesitate to call on me."

"Ooh, Kent," Sain said, his eyebrows wagging up and down. "Way to go, Mr. Smooth Operator. I didn't think you had it in you."

"Oh stuff it you tactless buffoon," Kent shot back as he turned and walked back to Striker. "I'm nothing like you."

"That's what you say," Sain said, "but I heard what you just said. Not call on "us" but call on "me". Not like me, eh? Someone's in denial."

"Oh shut up," Kent said as he rolled his eyes and kicked Striker into a trot.

"Oh, touchy now, aren't we-"

Lloyd smiled as the two knights started down the road again, bickering in what he assumed was a playful manner. He turned and held a hand out to Lyn. She reached out and groaned as he helped her back to her feet. She nodded her thanks and brushed the road-dust from her clothes. The two of them followed after Kent and Sain side by side.

Lloyd reached his arms up and clasped them behind his head as he walked. He frowned as he ran his hands through the shaggy hair that he found back there. "You know," Lloyd said, "this is the first time I realized how long my hair is."

"Oh?" Lyn tilted her head to look at the shaggy mane of deep brown that moved with every step Lloyd took. "I kind of like it. Makes you look roguishly handsome." Lloyd, eyes wide, turned to look at Lyn. Lyn, realizing what she said, turn her head away to hide the tinge of pink burning up her cheeks. "Ahm, what I mean is .. well …" She stammered, embarrassed. Lloyd grinned cheekily in response.

"Hehe, so," Lloyd said, "have you used the Mani Katti yet?"

Lyn shook her head, not trusting her tongue anymore but nonetheless grateful for the change of subject. She glanced down at her hip where the sacred sword was tied to her belt. The more she looked at it, the more she felt connected to it. But it was more than that. She also could clearly feel the sword reaching out to her, as if to comfort her in her pain.

"N-no," Lyn said. "Not yet. I'm… unsure if I am worthy of it. How can I, a nomad of the plains, a nobody really, be worthy of wielding a blade with no equal?" She forced herself to look away from the sword hilt. She also ignored the feeling of support, a strange fear of it coiling around her spirit.

"I think I know what you mean," Lloyd said. Lyn turned her head, her emerald eyes searching Lloyd's. The distance between the two of them, though only a few feet, felt like miles. Farther even. How a look could make her feel like there was an abyss between the two of them, Lyn wasn't sure. "But you shouldn't be afraid of it," Lloyd said. He blinked away the distance between the two of them and looked at her. "That sword chose you after all. You should make use of it. If I'm not mistaken, swords like that are just as alive as you. Though they may not talk and interact with the world in the same way as we do, they're just as sentient."

Lyn frowned as she looked back at the Mani Katti. "I never thought of it that way," she said as the embrace of the sword returned. It felt warm on her insides, as if someone had just given her a compliment. And it also gave her more strength; made her feel like she could run in spite of the pain. "Perhaps you're right."

"And once you get to know a sentient weapon," Lloyd continued, "then the really interesting things start happening. The goal of a swordsman, after all, is to become one with the sword; to become the very sword itself, inside and out. Having a sentient sword speeds up the process by giving you a physical manifestation of your desire to be the best swordsman you can be. Or… well, in your case, swordswoman."

"Perhaps," Lyn said. She looked back at Lloyd, but this time did not push away the presence that lent its support to her. Its existence still frightened her, but now that she was feeling its support all throughout her body, and especially in her sore legs, she wasn't so sure it was a bad thing. "I'm still not sure why it chose me."

"Think of it this way," Lloyd said. He held his hands out in front of him and clenched them into fists. "Spiritually, it is believed the sword was created so that only one person could wield it." He shook his left hand. "And you happen to be that person, the person it chose because it felt you were the person it was built for." Lloyd then shook his right hand. "By drawing the sword from the stone, you and the sword became partners." Lloyd brought his hands together and meshed his fingers together. "It chose you as much as you grabbed it and claimed ownership. You and the sword feel most comfortable in each other's hands."

Lyn placed a hand on the Mani Katti's hilt. "It does feel like it belongs in my hands. I don't think I'll ever understand why that is though." Lyn groaned and let her head and shoulders slump. "Why does all this destiny stuff have to be so difficult?"

"Believe me, I have been searching for the answer to that for eight years," Lloyd said. He slumped his head and shoulders as well and the two walked in their quiet sulk until the approach of hooves drew their attention. Kent and Sain slowed their mounts until they were stopped in front of Lloyd and Lyn.

"Milady," Kent said, "The town up ahead is in trouble. Looks to be some group of men wreaking havoc and destroying everything in sight."

Lyn clenched her hand on the hilt of the Mani Katti. The leather in the palm of her glove squealed as she squeezed her hand. Even the feelings that she got from the sword were outraged. Any aches and pains in her body were quickly forgotten as she took off running down the road.

Lloyd crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head to the side. "See," he said, "more energy than a horse." Sain, Striker and Romeo snorted in agreement, and even Kent had to give Lloyd a shaky smile. Lloyd extracted another apple and took a bite out of it. "Well, let's follow her and make sure she's not getting in over her head, shall we?" Lloyd took off at a quick clip. Kent and Sain both kicked their steeds into gear and quickly caught up with Lyn. Falling behind elicited an exasperated sigh from Lloyd. "So impatient …" he muttered and sped up.

When they found the village, it was in ruin. Lloyd remained stoic as he picked his way across the burned remains of a once tall wooden house. Kent appeared similar to Lloyd except for the noises he made as he attempted to lift a charred black panel of wood. Lyn and Sain both stood at the entrance, Sain glaring at the smoking remains and Lyn with her fists clenched and arms shaking.

"Why?" Sain growled. "Why didn't their Marquis do anything to protect these people? This… this slaughter could have been prevented. It's… Its…"

"It's just like what happened to my people," Lyn bit out. Somehow, her fingers had wrapped themselves around the hilt of the Mani Katti and extracted it a couple inches from the sheath. "This is Taliver Mountain, home to a gang of ruthless and vile bandits. My tribe was camped on the other side of these mountains. They came at night and killed… too many. Less than ten of us survived. They're soulless _monsters_ and don't deserve any mercy at all!"

In her fervor, Lyn ripped the Mani Katti from its sheath and brandished it in front of her. The sword's blade glowed an unearthly red hue, channeling the rage it and its wielder felt. The image of that night still lay burned into her memory. Instead of the villagers, it was her own people she saw slaughtered, lying half burned on the ground. Limbs missing, blood spattered. She could still smell that stench of burned human flesh, the tang of boiled blood, the reek of flame-consumed hair. These villagers were just as her people were, just as unprepared for the catastrophe about to be visited upon them.

Lloyd picked his way across the ruined village, looking for anything that might be the tell tales sign of a survivor. Memories of Luin, Ozette, and Heimdall flashed through his mind. The senseless violence of it all never failed to leave a sense of astonishment in his heart and a bad taste in his mouth. How could any living, breathing, feeling, emotional being do this to another?

Without realizing it, Lloyd had wandered to the far edge of the village. Too caught up in his search for life and internal musings, Lloyd failed to noticed the big swarthy men in rags until they were upon him. He blinked when he recognized that he was surrounded by three fleshy walls. Their clothing made it perfectly clear they were very poor. They didn't even have pants to cover their shame. Instead just a small, sweat and dirt laden fabric, frayed at the edges, hung between them and the rest of the world. Resting in their hands were the handles of large axe weapons, the make of which he couldn't make out.

"And how can I help you gentlemen?" Lloyd asked coldly and quietly. His arms crossed over his chest as he stared his assailants down. His lips were drawn into a scowl as he watched and waited. A light breeze played with his hair and the bottom edges of his cloak. He must have made an intimidating picture, because one of the men hesitated before he stepped forward, his axe at the ready.

The large weapon lifted into the air and came down in a graceful arc. Lloyd watched it intently, knowing perfectly well that the other two bandits were doing the same. Just as he was about to be cut into three pieces, Lloyd dashed forward and under the first bandit's arms. He jammed two fingers into the meaty fist holding the ax and watched for a couple pleasant seconds as the hand spasmed in pain and dropped the axe into Lloyd's waiting hand.

"Time to end this," Lloyd said. He lifted the axe into the air and, faster than the eye could see, slashed the bandits head off with his own axe. One of the bandits that stood behind him before roared as he charged forward. Lloyd brought the axe in his hand back around and embedded the blade into the back of the second bandit's skull. The axe blade cracked and split in half just after the second bandit hit the ground. Lloyd turned to the final bandit.

Lloyd lifted the broken axe shaft up in front of him and examined it. "I'm afraid your new weapons are really crappy. And if you are thought that I was afraid of your new sad excuse for armor, then you're –" Lloyd was cut off as a bandit charged at him.

Just as the third axe was lifted into the air, Lloyd thought he heard a shriek of fright coming from... above? Cocking an eyebrow, Lloyd felt his jaw gape as a petite girl in white fell out of the sky and landed right on top of the assailing bandit, knocking the man to the ground. "Is it raining angels now or something?" he asked, not expecting an answer. Lloyd placed a foot on the bandit's head as he took a step forward to help the petite girl up. He brushed off her skirt as he did so. "You alright there?" he asked gently.

The girl looked up with him wide, sea-foam green eyes, trembling. Before she could answer one way or another, another bandit from the tree line and pointed at the girl. "You there, how dare you – AUGH!" The man cut off in a scream as a winged horse dive-bombed him out of the blue, firmly planted two hooves into his back, and pushed down on the bandit until there was a loud crack. Lloyd wasn't startled to see that there was a saddle on its back. _'Well, that explains where the girl fell from…'_ he thought. A slight exasperation overtook him as he imagined all the riders of Ilia falling from their saddles.

"Huey!" The petite girl squealed in fright, racing out of Lloyds' hands over to the Pegasus. She clambered onto his back and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. The pegasi nickered and trotted off of the dead bandit in Lloyd's direction. Lloyd took a step back as he saw the look in the flying horse's eyes. The girl sat back and was about to give Huey an order when she locked her eyes on someone behind Lloyd. "I – is that you, Lyn??" She called out. Lloyd craned his neck and saw Lyn and the knights racing over toward their position. It seemed that the ruckus had garnered their attention.

Stopping once she was beside Lloyd, Lyn smiled happily at the girl. "Florina?" she asked, "What're you doing here? LOOK OUT!" Florina turned to look behind her, shrieking as she saw a bandit emerge running from the trees, his axe raised and ready to cleave her in two. Huey had other ideas. The Pegasi leaned forward on his front two legs and kicked out with his back ones, nailing the bandit on the chest. The impact was great enough to knock the man unconscious even before he hit the ground.

Lloyd looked at the Pegasus for a long moment before whistling. "Wow, you are one Pegasus on a mission, aren't you?" he asked Huey, who snorted and then whinnied. "Really now? I just thought they smelt horrible, but I guess those axes do a good amount of damage, even if they are crappier than they old ones." Lloyd responded as soon as Huey finished, earning several stares from the other humans around him. Sensing the stares, Lloyd gave them all a confused look. "What?" He asked, only to receive a stare from Florina, a facepalm from the knights, and an exasperated look from Lyn.

"Lloyd, you worry me …" Lyn commented drily, earning a dry chuckle out of Lloyd. Looking at him, she stated flatly, "Just what all was going on before we got here?"

"Well, I was looking for survivors when this ugly crowd," Lloyd gestured at the bandits, "decided to corner me. I was in the middle of educating them when this lovely lady here fell on one of them. Then Huey here took care of another, and that's when you three all showed up." Kent and Sain remained silent as they examined the headless body, the cleaved skull and the flattened body at their tactician's feet. Lyn shook her head at Lloyd's dry and to the point summary. Florina watched the goings on with wide eyes, and was about to speak when another group of bandits emerged from the trees.

"You there!" One of them shouted, pointed at Lloyd. Lloyd turned to face them. "You're the Red Winged Rogue! You will pay for humiliating me and my men!"

"Do you know these men, Lloyd?" Lyn asked.

"You know those bandits that were all around me when you found me?" Lloyd asked, while at the same time he made an extremely rude gesture toward the bandits. "I came through these mountains first and took this groups armor and weapons and sold them."

"You sold them?" Kent asked, incredulity seeping into his voice.

"What did you get?" Sain asked. Both Knights suddenly readied their weapons, Florina as well, and Lyn just took up a fighting stance.

"I got a whole bunch of apples!" Lloyd said happily, oblivious to the wave of bandits approaching. "And the village got the benefit of using these bandits armor and weapons against them."

The wave of four bandits were quickly squashed by the warriors around Lloyd. Lyn and Florina helped each other take down one bandit and the two knights took out the last three. Lloyd stepped carefully around the bodies piling up around him and searched the tree for the man he knew would be there.

"I don't have time deal with your idiocy, Migal." Lloyd shouted at the trees. "Go tell your brothers to take your bile elsewhere or I might just have to do more than embarrass you." Lyn watched Lloyd shout at the tree. She detected an undercurrent of loathing in his voice and the way he stood. If it were possible, the cool headed and calm Lloyd hated these bandits more than she.

Quite visibly, a man stepped from the forest and leveled an accusatory pointer finger at Lloyd. "You bastard! Do you know how much trouble we went through after you came through here?! It took us eight months to steal and pillage enough money to buy these new weapons!" Before Lloyd could respond, an arrow embedded itself into Migal's shoulder. "Augh! They've got an archer!" Migal shouted, "Retreat!" Migal disappeared back into the woods as two more arrows embedded themselves into the tree next to his head.

Lloyd became aware of the archer's presence just as he leaped from the branches of a tree behind the group. The archer landed heavily and sprinted forward. He skidded to a stop beside Lyn, raised his bow, and loosed another arrow into the trees. A shout erupted followed by a loud thud.

Lloyd whistled in appreciation, having seen with angelic enhanced vision, the arrow go through a tree knot and into the bandit's head. "Nice shot," Lloyd said.

"Thanks," the archer said, "I heard that there were people here that were going to fight off the bandits, and I came to help." He explained, looking at them all. Lyn looked at everyone else; Kent and Sain seemed to be alright with the new arrival, Lloyd had already voice his approval, and Florina was being her usual timid self.

Turning to look at the archer, Lyn smiled and held out a hand. "We are glad to have you," she said simply, earning a grin from the archer.

"I'm Wil," the man said as he grabbed Lyn's hand and gave it a firm shake. "And it's no trouble at all; I have been staying in a nearby village for a while, and I owe them for my room and board." Turning around, Wil drew another arrow from the quiver on his back. "Well, it seems we've got our work cut out for us …" as the others all looked, multitudes of bandits swarmed out from the trees.

Lloyd didn't react in fear, but instead looked at their surroundings. The burned village was surrounded by a half decayed wall. The damage of fire and battle had broken down the defenses but the fact that another village was nearby meant that there was still a chance. Lloyd turned to Wil and asked, "You said you were saying in a nearby village. How close is it? Are their walls still intact?"

"It's about five minutes running," Wil said. "And last I looked, the walls were fine, why?"

Lloyd smiled. "Perfect. If we play our cards right, we'll be rid of these bandits before dinner time. Lyn," Lyn looked up at Lloyd, "time for lesson six: how to get stupid idiots to do stupid things. Florina, I need you to take Lyn and fly high into the sky, and make sure that those bandits can see you going. Fly off toward the village Wil's staying at and meet us at the gates. Wil, I need you to feather one of those bandits, preferably the closest one, just before they reach us. Kent, Sain, you're our escape. We're going to lure them back to the village."

"What?!" Lyn and Kent shouted at the same time.

"We don't have time to argue," Lloyd said, sending a glare at them both. "Go, now!"

Lyn took one last look at Lloyd before she ran over to Florina, who helped her up onto Huey, before the two took off. They made a circle overhead and then took off toward the southwest. Wil got ready, drawing the bowstring back and aiming at one of the tens of bandits charging for them. Kent and Sain rode up to them.

"I don't like the idea of putting innocent civilians in danger, Lloyd," Kent said. "I highly disapprove of this."

"Oh ye of little faith," Lloyd said. He hopped up behind Kent as Wil loosed the arrow. The closest bandit dropped and was quickly trampled by the bandits running behind him. This enraged said bandits, boiling their blood with anger. The end result was faster bandits blindly swinging their axes.

"I think that made them even more angry," Wil said as he scrambled onto Romeo behind Sain. "I hope you know what you're doing!"

The two knights directed their mounts into a high speed gallop. The bandits kept up with the two horses as they left the burned down village and entered the woods to the south. Like wind in their branches, the two knights directed the horses skillfully past brook and rocky outcroppings. The bandits, slowed slightly by the trees, still kept pace.

As they burst from the canopied cover, Kent and Sain immediately were confronted by a long, mud-brick wall. The only opening was in the center, where Lyn waited with Florina. Lloyd stood up behind Kent, who was surprised to feel no shift in weight behind him, or change of stride in the horse below him. Lloyd gestured wilding toward the sky as the bandits began emerging from the forest.

Florina shortly thereafter took off and began circling above. Wil, carefully aiming from behind Sain, loosed two more arrows and dropped the same number of bandits. Lloyd grinned when he saw this and gave a thumbs up to Wil, who grinned right back.

"Sain," Lloyd shouted over the thundering hooves below him. "When we get past the walls, take Wil and find someplace high for him to hide and shoot from. A tree or a roof top or something. Then hurry back. Kent, Lyn, Florina, and I will hold the bandits off at the gate, and bottle neck them. Wil, you do your thing when you've got the high ground."

Sain and Wil nodded and somehow, Sain drew even more speed out of Romeo. Lloyd leaped nimbly from Striker as Kent slowed to a stop next to Lyn. She looked like she was about to run out and engage the bandits at any moment, so Lloyd reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Let them come and engage them here," Lloyd said. "There are more of them than there are of us. That's how they win their battles. But here, in this gateway, there can only fit so many of them. It would be stupid of them to charge toward this gate with the hopes of all of them getting through right away. But they're stupid idiots, so they're going to do that anyway. Not a brain among the lot anywhere. So we just have to be the last one's standing."

"I must admit," Kent said, "I had my doubts, but it seems I was wrong."

"No time for that now," Lloyd said. He pointed toward the hoard of bandits, had to be over 50 men, all charging for the one, small gateway that was only large enough to fit a single wagon through. "Here they come!"

The first group of three bandits charged in together. Lyn dashed forward and slashed at the first one she could. A spray of bandit blood erupted into the air as the man fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Kent ran the second grunt through with his lance and Lloyd ducked underneath the attack of the third bandit. With barely any effort, Lloyd sank his fist into the bandit's abdomen, lifted the huge fleshy beast of a man into the air, and threw him into the throng of men just running up.

The bandit bowling ball knocked down a group of ten or so, all of their weapons flying up and away. Lyn dodged another slash at her and attacked. Kent did his stabbity thing on the bandits that charged at him. Sain showed up and started lopping off heads, arms, and hands with his sword. Arrows launched from a nearby tree, taking out bandits left and right. Florina and Huey dive-bombed bandits every now and again, lance to the face and then hooves to the chest.

The group fell into a steady rhythm. Lyn slashed, dodged back, Kent stabbed, retreated, Sain sliced, retreated, Wil feathered, Florina dive-bombed, Lloyd distracted. They repeated this pattern over and over again, never falling, never failing. When the final bandit fell by Wil's arrow, they were all out of breath, but exhilarated. The bandits had fallen so easily because they couldn't fight effectively in the small space while their smaller force could.

Florina landed and dismounted on the inside of the wall, which was clear of bodies, and ran to Lyn. The two girls embraced tiredly, but laughed as they fell to the ground. Everyone who was fighting on the ground had bruises, scratches and cuts. But the exhilaration of winning over such large numbers was coursing loudly through their veins. Kent and Sain laughed from their saddles. Striker and Romeo both seemed jovial despite the cuts on their flanks.

All thoughts and feelings of joy were erased when a shrill shriek rent the air. While the others looked around for the source of the scream, Lloyd bolted toward the village. The others, not wanting to fall behind, quickly followed. Lloyd ran around the buildings on the edge of the town toward the center. He pushed his way past a wall of people as fast as he could and stopped when he burst through. There, in the center of the circle of villagers, was Migal with a knife held to the neck of a little girl. On the ground behind Migal was a man with a bloody hole in his chest.

"I thought you'd show up here eventually, Red Winged Rogue," Migal said. The bandit grinned a foul smelling grin. His big greasy fingers tightened their grip on the little girl who struggled to break free despite the knife at her throat. "That's why while I sent all my men in the front gate, I went around back and entered this place from behind." Lloyd glared. "I remember you did us bad last time. I intend to return the favor. I'm gonna make you watch as I kill all these innocent people right in front of you."

Just then, Lyn appeared from the crowd, her sword at the ready. Lloyd held a hand out before she could act and motioned for her to stay still. Lyn quickly noticed the little girl and lowered her sword. "What makes you think I'll let you do that, Migal?" Lloyd asked with an icy calm that drove bolts of pure electric into Lyn's spine. She'd never, ever, heard Lloyd speak that way and even though he wasn't speaking to her, she felt fear ripple through her being. A glance at his eyes only made the fear worse; there was almost no brown left in them, replaced solely by a burning blood red color.

The others caught up at this point, splitting the crowd of people and taking positions behind Lloyd and Lyn. Their weapons bared, none of them made any motion toward Migal. The people around the group and Migal were deathly silent as they watched the showdown between Lloyd and Migal.

"I've got this here girl. You know I can killer her at any time I want, that's why you're not going to stop me. Cause you care too much, and that makes you weak!" Without giving Lloyd a chance to respond, Migal made his move.

Lloyd shouted, "No!" and sprang forward, but was too late. The crowd of people around them cried out. Lyn gasped. Kent and Sain dropped their weapons in shock. Florina cried and buried her face into Huey's neck. Huey looked away. Wil tried to pull his bow string back, but found the strength in his arms was gone.

Lloyd dashed forward and grabbed Migal by the neck, then slammed the big man into the ground. Before the lifeless child's body could hit the ground, Lloyd reached out an arm and caught her. Shaking, Lloyd remained silent as the situation settled in.

"Why?" Lloyd rasped. "Why would you do such a thing?! I would have given myself up to you. I would have-"

"Because you're the Red Winged Rogue," Migal rasped. Lloyd squeezed his hand tighter, cutting Migal off.

"You!" Lloyd lifted his head and glared past the bridge of his nose at Migal, who made the fatal mistake of making eye contact. Lyn couldn't see what Lloyd was doing, but she could see the effect that it had on Migal. He was shivering, shaking even. Tears fell from the big man's face, not from remorse, but from fear. Fear of Lloyd. This wall of a man was made a blubbering mess by a man half as big as he. "Lyn is right," Lloyd said, "You and your ilk are nothing but a bunch of soulless monsters. As such, I pass judgment upon you and sentence you to a lifetime of ridicule and suffering. For all the lives you and your ilk have taken, you will suffer as much."

Carefully, laying the dead girl on the ground. Lloyd brought his hand around and with two quick jabs, plucked both eyeballs from the sockets in Migal's skull. Migal let loose an anguished scream. Lloyd squished the white balls and flicked his hand free of the goop. Then he held his hand over the wound and a green aura formed over his glove. When he pulled his hand back, the bloody eye sockets were bleeding no more, but healed, healed badly with the gaping holes where eyes had been.

"My eyes!" Migal shouted. "You stole my-Augh!" Lloyd had grabbed Migal's tongue. With a quick twist, the stick of muscle came free and the remnants flopped around in the back of Migal's mouth. Lloyd shoved his hand into Migal's mouth, the green aura once again surrounding his glove. Then Lloyd violently pulled his balled fist out of Migal's mouth, taking most of the bandit's teeth with it. Lloyd then punched each of Migal's limbs three times, breaking the bones in the arm and legs. Then he healed them too, so that his arms were misshapen and his hands and feet were skewed at odd angles.

Then Lloyd turned, scooped up the dead child and her father, and stood. Without looking at anyone, Lloyd walked away from the misshapen man lying in pain on the ground and headed toward the outskirts of the city. As he passed it, Lloyd snatched up a shovel leaning against the wall of a house.

****************************

Several hours later…

****************************

"Do you think he's calmed down?" Lyn asked Kent, both of whom were looking at Lloyd. The brunet man had yet to return from where he had buried the girl and her father, and none of the group had really wanted to go and disturb him. They were staying in the village that they had saved earlier in the day, quietly eating something that had been whipped up by one of the villagers. Kent looked towards the hill where Lloyd had gone, brows knit in a concerned look.

"I don't know, Lady Lyn …" He murmured after a moment, sighing. "I've heard tales, but I'd never seen any man grow so angry that his strength grew out of proportion like that …" Glancing at the villagers, Kent added as well, "Besides, there was something about him … he really didn't feel human. He didn't fully look like one either." Lyn bit her lip to keep from glaring at Kent, but a small part of her agreed; in that split second, Lloyd had changed from a gentle, smiling traveler to a monster in human form. She had seen the look in his eyes as he had attacked Migal, and it frightened her perhaps as much as it frightened everyone else.

And that green aura around Lloyd's hands … what _was_ that?!

Standing quietly, Lyn filled a tray full of food and walked out to where Lloyd was sitting, staring out over the valley. "Lloyd … there's food here …" She called softly, stopping when she could clearly see the red wings on the back of Lloyd's cloak. Even in the dying sunlight, they stood out against the grey wool the rest of his clack was made from.

"… I'm not hungry." Lloyd said softly after a moment of silence, his eyes not wavering from the wooden crosses he had managed to make. Again, he seemed different than how he had always been, a distant grief in his red eyes that made him appear centuries old. Lyn stared at him softly for a few minutes, then set down the tray of food and sat beside him, looking at him gently. She was startled to see tear tracks running down his face, even though nothing else showed signs of tears.

A few more moments passed like this before Lloyd spoke. "My mother's hometown, Luin, this place could nearly be it. The only difference between here and there was that Luin is built on a lake, not in the mountains, but they're both still so isolated in areas of such danger …" He tapered off, sparing a glance around the mountains that surrounded them. Lyn remained silent, but her eyes asked gently for him to go on. "… I was traveling with some of my companions, and we were heading to Luin to rest for a while. But when we got there … it was destroyed, dead bodies lying on the roads, floating in the lake … adults, the elderly, and even some children …."

"Bandits?" Lyn asked hoarsely, gripping the edge of her skirt tightly in her fists. Lloyd paused, as if he was going to say something, but then shook his head.

"No …. Something worse than bandits. The people that attacked Luin were Desians, a group of half-elves who treated humans worse than the bandits treats villagers … at least with bandits, innocents die quickly." Lloyd's voice was suddenly full of bitter rage, and his left hand clenched into a fist around something that he was holding. "They took all of the humans they didn't kill, and brought them to their ranch … where they were used as hard labor and living hosts for a type of parasite …" Lloyd cut off, shaking in quiet rage. "But like the bandits, the Desians enjoyed their work."

Lyn, who sat beside him, felt her mouth hang open, shock written all over their faces. She hated bandits, yes, but these Desians Lloyd spoke of … A second glance at Lloyd showed Lyn that he was bottling up all of his pain inside, and she closed her mouth. Nothing she said would make Lloyd feel any better, so she simply sat next to him, and after a great while, leaned her head against his shoulder. Lloyd didn't respond to anything she did, and the two sat out the night in silence on the hill, Lyn falling asleep as the sun finally set, illuminating the small crosses from behind and staining the wood they were made from a deep, radiant orange.

* * *

Rekka Omake!

Lloyd is normal, Wil is underlined, Lyn is **bold**, Kent is _italics,_ Sain is _**bold italics**_, and Florina is **bold and underlined**

He doesn't need swords…

Sir Lloyd, might I ask where your weapons are? Surely a warrior such as you wouldn't enter into a battle with nary your hands to defend yourself?  
I don't use swords because then I'd win too fast.**  
T-too fast?!**  
Yeah, it wasn't fun anymore. I mean it got to the point where I'd just walk up to the enemy and whack them, they'd go down, end of battle._**  
I-I can see how that would become tedious… *sweatdrop***_  
Yeah, oh well, it doesn't matter. I'm having loads of fun now, with just my own two hands. *leaves*_  
I find it hard to believe Sir Lloyd is that talented._**  
Oh he is. You should have been there when he took on a whole band of bandits alone. There had to be over forty dead.**  
Maybe he really doesn't need swords…


	5. Broken Trust

**Lloyd: **Why do I have to suffer with you two for so long …? T_T_  
Li:_Because we're not done with the story yet, dumbass.  
V: Yeah. Besides, what's so bad about hanging out with us? All you have to do is say the disclaimer. We have to do the hard labor and write the story.**  
Lloyd:** Hanging with you is like sitting in one of Professor Raine's lectures… Only she didn't throw random deadly weapons at me when I fell asleep!_  
Li: _Yeah, she threw erasers at you instead. XD now do the disclaimer before I bring out the shock collar.**  
Lloyd: ***sighs in defeat* These maniacs own nothing …

Chapter Four: Broken Trust

* * *

The morning sun overhead made Lyn blink blearily, half wishing it would go away. The gentle feeling of cloth beneath her cheek was not too surprising, but she didn't remember actually getting into a bed the night before. When she opened her eyes, she was startled to find that she was lying on the ground, her head propped up against Lloyd's thigh; her soft blanket was actually his cloak. She frowned when Lloyd didn't notice the subtle movements indicating her wakefulness. All of Lloyd's focus was absorbed in a small oval-shaped pendant he held in his hand, his red eyes gentle and filled with an odd longing. Pushing his cloak off and sitting up quietly, Lyn peeked over Lloyd's shoulder and was startled to see that he was holding a locket. The picture inside made her do a double take as a question bubbled up from the back of her sleep fogged mind.

"Are those … your parents?" She asked while she attempted to mask a yawn. Lloyd blinked as he turned to look at her, the light breeze toying with his hair as he smiled softly at her and nodded. "You look a lot like your father when he was your age." Lloyd smiled at that and Lyn watched as laughter grew within his chest even as he stubbornly refused to let it out. "What?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing, nothing …" Lloyd reassured her with a chuckle. He looked away from her to hide his laughter. Lyn gave him a suspicious look, but she didn't pursue it further. "He was a good man," he said once his mirth had died down a bit. The smile on his face never left though. "A bit stubborn and perhaps emotionless on occasion, but his heart was in the right place. He's the one who…" Lloyd paused as he put a finger to his chin and searched for the right word. "…_refined_ my training, if you will."

"Refined?" Lyn asked again, shifting so that she was sitting next to Lloyd instead of leaning against him. A sudden chill went up her spine and she dragged his cloak back around her. Lloyd turned to look at her, cheeks turning a slight shade of pink that made his cheeks looks rounder than normal. He wasn't used to being so impressed at the sight of a girl; the only four he had been close to were something other than romantic interest, but Lyn …

Pushing that train of thought aside, Lloyd closed the locket and wound it around his neck again. "Like you, I trained myself to fight originally, but my father helped me polish up some of the… _rougher_ points." Standing up, he reached down to pull Lyn back on up onto her feet. "We should probably get back into town; the others are probably worried about us. We spent all night out here." Lyn blinked, looking at the hand for a moment before smiling up at Lloyd and letting him pull her back up to her feet.

Once they were standing again, she unwound Lloyd's cloak from around her body and handed it to him. "Thanks …" She mumbled, finding the ground suddenly very interesting as Lloyd took the gray cloak from her hands and pulled it on over his shoulders, the red wings settling on his back. Again, Lyn wondered what the wings he wore represented, but she was still too nervous to ask. When Lloyd was set, he smiled and offered her his arm making Lyn stare at him for a second, confused. After a moment however, she grinned and took it. "You're spoiling me, Lloyd." She said simply, shaking her head as Lloyd laughed, both of them walking back towards the village.

"I guess that means you're ready for a tougher training regimen," Lloyd said. He smiled down at her innocently, ignoring the crestfallen look on her face.

* * *

"Everyone, I have an announcement to make."

Everyone in Lyndis' Legion paused what they were doing to look at Lloyd. Kent and Sain, preparing their horses for travel, turned and faced him fully. Their armor gleamed in the morning light. Florina, the only one of the group finished preparing, twisted in Huey's saddle to look at him. Will looked up from lacing his boot up. Lyn finished tying off her belt and slid the Mani Katti inside its scabbard as Lloyd began to speak.

"First off, I'd like to apologize to everyone for what I did yesterday," Lloyd said. Of everyone present, only Kent and Lyn weren't giving him guarded looks of fear. Lyn, of course, was content in her knowledge of what drove Lloyd to do what he did. Kent, on the other hand, had a vindictive glare pointed in Lloyd's direction. "What I did, no matter how much it was deserved or not deserved, was wrong."

"That bastard deserved everything you gave to him," Wil said, "and more." Though he looked like he intended the words as encouragement, Lloyd could still detect an undercurrent of fear in his voice. That fear had to go or else anything he did or ordered would be second guessed. And hesitating on a battlefield is a quick way to die.

"Nevertheless, my actions have caused disharmony within the group," Lloyd said. Kent nodded in agreement. "If we want any success in future endeavors fighting as a group, then you can't continually be second guessing everything I say because you're afraid of what I'm going to do. Therefore, I've decided to part ways with you here."

"What?!" Lyn's outburst seemed to speak for the rest of the group, who all gasped or widened their eyes. Even Kent seemed perturbed by his announcement. "Lloyd, you can't! You're the most powerful fighter I've ever seen. Maybe even in the entire world. You can't just stop fighting. I-We need your help!"

"I'm sorry Lyn, but this is just the way it's got to be," Lloyd said. Lyn looked about to abandon her spot and rush over to Lloyd. But his serious expression stopped her in her tracks. "I can't endanger you or your chances of returning to your grandfather," Lloyd said. "Being with your family is far more important than I am. And I cannot say whether what happened yesterday will not happen again. Not to mention the bandits that have a beef with me or the man I'm chasing, both of whom are far more dangerous than anything you've seen so far. Staying with you any longer would only put all of you in further danger."

"You can't, Lloyd," Lyn said, her legs shaking slightly. A silence fell over the group as Lyn begged. "You can't leave! If it weren't for you, I'd be dead by now. It was your teachings that helped me overcome those bandits outside of Bulgar." Lloyd expression softened and he crossed the distance between himself and Lyn. She continued speaking. "It was your strategy that pushed back all those bandits yesterday. If this is about that despicable man and what he did to those-"

Lloyd held a finger up to Lyn's lips, stopping her from speaking. Her emerald eyes glistened as she used them to plead with Lloyd. Lloyd looked back at her, sad but resolute.

"The people I'm involved with are more than willing to slit your throat, your grandfather's throat, and every throat between them and me. They're cold, merciless monsters." Lloyd put his hands on Lyn's shoulders. The contact broke the despondent spell Lyn was under and let the reality of his departure begin to soak in. "They're the kind of people who would tie you to a chair and slowly torture your parents to death in front of you just to get what they want. I can't drag you into my battles."

"Lloyd," Lyn said, her voice quiet and quivering. She spoke slowly, unsure if she could control the swirling emotions bursting in her chest long enough to keep from collapsing in on herself. "I swore to follow you no matter what, no matter how powerful or terrifying the enemy. I swore I'd try and learn how to forgive enemies that I hate. I… Did all that mean nothing? Was everything you said just words?"

Lloyd shook his head. "Remember what I said. True strength is strength of the heart. I could stay and help you, but then who would stop these mad men running around the world? It would be easier for me to let my enemies come to me. But at what cost? I'd be putting your life in danger. Even your grandfather's life is endangered. I can't put your lives at risk for my own benefit. And as much as I want to stay, I have to leave."

"Lady Lyn," Kent said. "Lloyd is right. If men as bad as he says are out there, then we would be better off letting him go." A nearly undetected hint of disgust at Lloyd was in his voice, but only Sain who had known him for so long noticed it and shot the younger a warning look.

"Lyn…" Florina let her voice trail off.

Lloyd let his hands fall from Lyn's shoulders. She turned and faced away from everyone. Her body was taught with tension as she took deep breaths. "If you have to leave, then go," she said abruptly. Before anyone could react, she ran off. Lloyd watched her for a painful moment, then turned to leave, pulling out an apple as if to eat it as he walked.

Kent reached out to her but she brushed passed him and disappeared into the village. For a moment, his eyes lingered on where she'd been. Slowly, his fingers clenched into a fist. Angrily, he turned and shouted, "Lloyd, don't you ever show your face near Lady Lyn again! Do you hear me?! Leave and never come back!"

Lloyd, who was already disappearing into the distance, lifted his hand into the air and casually waved without looking back. "Fare well, my friends," Lloyd whispered, already too far away for them to hear him. The apple in his hand exploded when he clenched his fingers into a fist. "Dammit!"

* * *

(Two days later…)

Lloyd lifted his legs into the air as he vaulted over a log. A couple yards behind him was the unmistakable sound of a shaman using a floating spell to move. Considering how fast they were moving, the sound was fairly high pitched. Lloyd grinned as he led the man on what was probably the chase of his lifetime. He wasn't running because he was afraid of the man's spells. Most of the magic users in _this_ world used magic too weak to even affect him, and this one was particularly weak. Nor was he afraid of the man's physical abilities, which like any magic inclined fighter, were clearly wanting.

No, Lloyd was leading this man on a chase because he was the only one foolish enough in the Black Fang's scout party to chase him without waiting for back up. The farther away they got, the easier it would be to get information out of him without being interrupted. After several more minutes of chasing, Lloyd decided that he'd gone far enough.

He simply stopped his forward movement, using his enormous strength to dig his heels into the ground. The sudden stop took the shaman by surprise. He barely even recognized that Lloyd had stopped before he'd caught up with him. Lloyd had no compunction to be merciful today and grabbed the man by his throat before he could slam face first into a tree.

"Nice to meet you," Lloyd said cheerfully. "My name is Lloyd. I'm sure Nergal has told you about me already so I'll skip the explanation. I lured you out here all alone so that no one would interrupt us while we talk. Now, please, tell me what his current plans are? Anything would be helpful." To encourage the man to talk, Lloyd put on a charming smile while simultaneously squeezing his hand hard enough to cause pain without cutting off airflow.

"You… Lord Nergal… Kill… You…"

Lloyd shook his head. "That's not what I asked about," he chided the choking man. "I asked what Nergal's been up to. I know you haven't a clue where he is. No one has for the last couple months. But that's okay. I'll catch up to him eventually. Instead, I want you to tell me, what are you and your cadre of terrorists even doing here in Lycia? Nothing good, that's almost a given."

"Kill…" Lloyd squeezed tighter. The man seemed to reconsider his bravado when he realized just how close his life was to ending. This man, like most of the newest recruits to the once noble Black Fang, were weaklings on a power high granted to them by Nergal's foul influence. "Wa-it! I'll… talk…"

Lloyd released his grip and let the man fall to the ground. While he was gasping for air and holding his throat, Lloyd smiled and crossed his arms. "Good, get talking."

"We… we were ordered… into Lycia by that devil woman Nergal had worm into the Black Fang," the shaman said. "She said it was to ferment discontent among the populace. She said it was the will of Nergal that Lycia and Bern go to war."

"Probably trying to whip up some new sources of quintessence," Lloyd surmised. "That doesn't explain why you were here, trailing a small group of people headed southwest. What do they have to do with fermenting discontent?"

"Hehehe," the shaman chuckled. "Don't you know who's in that group?" Lloyd cocked his head to the side and gave the man on the ground a look of impatience. "It's the lost granddaughter of Canton Caelin's Lord Hausen, you imbecile! Do you know what how much time can be saved if we use her to force the old man to abdicate in lieu of his puppet brother? Lord Lundgren is so much easier to control, to mold to our Lord Nergal's wishes. War won't be far off when we've got an entire canton under our control."

"I see…" Lloyd said. His face became grimmer as he calculated the distance between him and where Lyn's party would be about now. "If I leave now, I can just about make it by nightfall."

"I don't think so," the shaman said, "when you showed up, we were on our way to capture the errant royal brat. It won't be too much longer before she's captured and hidden away for Lord Nergal to use as he pleases."

Lloyd rounded on the shaman. "Don't think I'll let you-"

"Hehehehehehe." Lloyd suddenly found himself surrounded by a white light. He looked down at the runes glowing beneath his feet and groaned.

"Don't tell me you're going to try casting Luna on me?!" Lloyd whined. "It won't work."

"You fool!" The shaman roared. "You should never have crossed with Malvish, the Terrible!"

"What's that?" Lloyd snorted. "Is that your attempt at a frightening name? If so, epic failure my friend. Epic. Failure."

"You won't be so smug when I've cast this spell," Malvish said. The dark aura around him grew in size, blowing his cloak behind him as he cast the spell. "Luna!"

Lloyd shook his head, crouched down, and placed his hand on the glowing runes. That area of the forest exploded in a giant ball of dust, rocks, and shredded trees. When the dust cleared, Lloyd stood in the newly formed crater, phantom wings disappearing from behind him. He shook his head as he looked down at the fried corpse of the shaman.

"More like Malvish the unfortunate fool," Lloyd said. "I keep trying to tell these mages, but nooooooo. They've all got to cast their spells and try and kill me. Good thing I've learned how to use the Mana from their spells to my advantage." Lloyd turned and looked toward the sky. It was midday still, the sun brightly shining down on a freshly revealed spot in the earth. "This little detour has taken a chunk out of my time. If I leave now, I might be able to make it before midnight. Hang on Lyn, I'm on my way."

* * *

(With Lyndis' Legion …)

"She hasn't cheered up ever since Sir Lloyd left." Wil commented from his seat on Romeo behind Sain. The older knight nodded and glanced ahead at the young woman, who rode behind Florina on Huey, with Kent riding ahead of them all, a hand clenching his sword tightly as he surveyed the area looking for any sort of danger that would approach them. Sain was watching the younger knight with an unreadable expression on his face.

"No, and I don't think Kent's attitude has been much help either." He commented, shaking his head. "He hasn't been this foolish since our last year as squires, and even then he smartened up within a few hours after the incident that he got himself into. If he keeps up like this, I won't be too surprised if the Lady Lyn slaps him."

"Would she really get that angry?" Wil asked, looking at Lyn again, mildly wary.

"Considering the circumstances, I wouldn't put it past her."

"What're you two babbling about?" Lyn asked as she and Florina slowed down to keep apace with them. Wil jolted, startled, while Sain merely beamed at her.

"I was just telling Wil about how ravishing you look, milady!" He replied cheerfully, not too shocked when Lyn rolled her eyes and Florina giggled faintly. Sobering up, he asked gently, "Should we find a place to rest soon? It's getting dark, and I don't think it would be wise to travel these woods at night." Lyn looked at him, and nodded slightly.

"Just let Kent know what you're doing …" She said, yawning behind her hand. Sain nodded at her, as did Wil, and the two rode up to discuss their actions with Kent before taking off. Lyn noticed with interest that Sain was being unusually curt with the younger knight. "I wonder if that's how he shows that he's angry …" She mumbled, her hand resting on the hilt of the Mani Katti.

Ever since she and Lloyd had separated, it seemed like the sword was sharing her depression. True, it still glowed when she swung it, but the warmth that she had felt whenever her hand was on it had seemed to weaken. When it got too much to bear, Lyn often found herself reflecting on the lessons Lloyd had told her, and a pain in her chest grew bigger every time. Lloyd had become such a fast friend within such a short amount of time it was incredible. There was no tension from him, no looking down at her just because she was a woman who wanted to learn how to use a sword. 'Lloyd …'

"Are you alright back there, Lyn?" Florina asked softly, turning slightly in her saddle to talk with her old friend. Lyn opened her eyes and gazed at her, nodding faintly. Florina sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry Lyn … I don't think Lloyd really wanted to leave you." Lyn blinked and looked at Florina in shock, making the Pegasus knight smile back timidly. "It's just something I noticed … he seemed to really be upset about it. I don't doubt that if he didn't have someone after him, he would have stuck with you to the end."

Lyn felt some of her depression lift at that; Florina was right, as usual. "Thanks, I think I needed that." She smiled back faintly at that, to which Florina smiled in return and gestured forward as Sain and Wil returned, saying that they had found shelter for the night. Kent turned Striker to follow them, and Huey simply snorted and took to the air, Lyn yelping and grabbing onto Florina to steady herself.

The shelter that the two had found was a small, abandoned fortress in need of some repairs, but was mostly intact. Circling down in front of it, Huey hovered a few feet from the ground to let Lyn jump from his back and slowly slip inside, looking around. "Hello, is anyone here?" She asked softly, her hand tight around the hilt of the Mani Katti. A noise at her left made her turn sharply, the Mani Katti drawn an inch from its scabbard when she saw that it was a woman a few years older than her.

"oh, hello there." The woman smiled and nodded her head at Lyn, leaning against the wall. "I heard someone enter, and thought it was bandits until I heard you ask to see if anyone was here." Lyn relaxed her grip on the Mani Katti, but kept her hand on the hilt as the young woman approached her slowly, dragging her foot along. "I am Natalie, miss." Natalie nodded her head, her plain brown hair falling down her back in two thin braids. "I came here looking for my husband, but my leg …"

"It doesn't look well at all." Lyn nodded at it, relaxing her grip completely; Natalie wasn't a bandit, she could tell that just by looking at her. The fact that she had come so far to look for her husband impressed Lyn though, and she found it very touching, especially considering that Natalie wasn't as mobile as the rest. Now that she had a good look at her leg, Lyn could see that it was badly mangled, and the foot was at an odd angle. "My name is Lyn, and my companions and I were simply looking for a place to stay the night." As she spoke, Lyn heard hooves as Kent and Sain led Striker and Romeo inside, Wil following alongside. "Where's Florina?" She asked, worried.

"She went out to find us some meat for supper." Kent reassured Lyn, who still seemed wary. Deciding the subject, he nodded at Natalie. "And this is, my lady?"

"Please, sir knight, I came here looking for my husband Dorcas. I have a sketch here, but it's a poor resemblance." Natalie pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment and passed it to Kent, who showed it to the others present. Lyn looked up and shook her head, as did the others. Natalie sighed and took the parchment back. "He went to look for a job, to buy money to mend my leg. He's a good man with a good heart, but I'm worried he might have gotten involved with something … not so good." She explained, slowly sliding down to the ground to sit. Lyn joined her a moment later, as did Wil, and the three began to discuss where they were on the map while Kent and Sain led their mounts away to tend to them.

"She still misses him." Sain commented softly once the two were out of Lyn's earshot. As he pulled Romeo's saddle off of him, he added, "We might not have run into much danger since Sir Lloyd left us, let us hope Lady Luck continues to favor us."

"We would be in even more danger if he were still with us; he said it himself." Kent commented sharply, pulling Striker's harness off of him. The gelding snorted and shoved his muzzle in Kent's chest, making him sigh and rub the chestnut's head affectionately. "You saw what he did to that bandit, Sain. What would happen if he unleashed that rage on us?"

"You're acting paranoid, Kent." Sain stated curtly, pulling off the saddle blanket and rubbing Romeo's back to ease some of the destrier's soreness as he sneezed. "Come to think about it, you've been immature about the entire thing. There's been more than one time where you behaved worse than a paranoid squire." Kent turned around sharply, a hurt look on his face that quickly turned to disgust.

"Am I being immature for knowing when a threat is near us?!"

"No, you're being immature about how he left the group. Don't think I didn't catch the way you were hollering at him." Sain stated coolly, turning to face Kent as he took Romeo's reins off and gave him a carrot. Face stern, Sain continued with, "About him never showing his face around Lady Lyn again; do you honestly think that if he wanted to stay with her that he would let you stop him?" Kent scowled at him. "You're not an addle-brained fool, Kent, but for the first time in years, you're acting like one."

"He hurt her." Kent said flatly, as if it explained everything. San turned to face him fully and stepped towards the younger knight, hazel green eyes locking onto under ones.

"And I suppose you could explain the same thing to Lady Lyn if you had been in his situation, save for more gently?" He asked, voice so curt that it seemed almost out of character for him. "Sir Lloyd was being courteous as was possible for him under the circumstance. And as soon as you realize that, you'll understand how immature you are behaving and hopefully grow out of it." Kent glowered back at Sain, knowing that if they resorted to physical blows, it wouldn't end in his favor, not to mention it would attract the attention of the others. Sain met Kent's eyes steadily, hands down at his sides to keep himself from slapping the younger.

The tension in the air was broken by a neigh as Huey rushed towards them from above, a petrified Florina on his back. As the Pegasus landed, she sat up straight and panted out, "There's bandits! They – they're coming from the northern part of the forest! I … I tried to see how many there were bu … but there were archers … and …and … oh dear, I'm sorry I wasn't able to help much!" Kent and Sain looked at one another, their argument temporarily forgotten as they turned and nodded to Florina.

"Go let Wil know, Florina; I think he headed off to a separate corner of the fortress." Kent nodded towards his left. Florina nodded in return and turned Huey to the area, spurring the Pegasus into a trot. Once she was out of earshot, he scowled and began replacing Striker's tack, Sain already a step ahead of him; the older knight had already swung back onto Romeo's back, forsaking the saddle for once, and simply grabbed his spear, turning Romeo around to go and inform Lady Lyn.

In the woods to the northwest, Lloyd was racing towards the fortress, watching the setting sun with worry. 'Lyn, hold out until I get there, please …'

* * *

Rekka Omake!

"A Lack of Common sense"

Kent is normal, **Sain is** **bold**

This isn't good. We're in unfavorable conditions here.**  
Starting to regret chasing off our tactician now, are we?**  
I – I didn't chase him off! He left on his own accord!**  
Have you already forgotten that you told him never to come back? Or that you've been growling about him under your breath for the past two days?**  
He hurt the Lady Lyndis; what right does he have to come back here anyways?**  
You're being a jealous idiot, Kent.**  
What?!**  
Sir Lloyd left because he didn't want the Lady Lyn to be hurt by the people who were after him. True, he was coarse about it, but he would rather have Lady Lyn reach her grandfather safely than run into danger with him fighting alongside us.**  
We've already been over this. What is there to stop him from doing what he did to that bandit to us?**  
*sighs* It'll be pointless to talk with you when you're like this. Your common sense has taken absence without leave.**  
Sain, what are you–**  
I'll go inform the Lady Lyn that we have company; Wil and Florina are already prepared and waiting at possible weak points. You can rejoin us when your common sense rejoins you. *leaves***  
*looks down* I haven't heard Sain talk like that in years … am I really behaving that badly?


	6. Protracted Conflict

**Lloyd: **Li and V do not own Tales of Symphonia or Fire Emblem. On with the-  
V: Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's the rush?  
**Lloyd:** Damn, almost made it!  
_Li:_ Silly Lloyd. You weren't going to get away with that SO easily.  
**Lloyd: **Oh heaven help me…  
_Li: _Lloyd, don't make me stab you with my tablet pen …  
V: She'll do it too. Now, do we need to tie you down again, or are you going to play nice? I still haven't cleaned the blood off from last time, so the chains will be sticky.  
**Lloyd:** I-I'll play nice. Damn it!

Chapter Five: Protracted Conflict

* * *

Dorcas was a fighter, had been all his life. Back when he was five years old, he beat little Joey from next door to within an inch of his life for picking on little Natalie from down the road. He was severely punished for what he did, but he gladly bore the punishment, happy that Joey never once even looked at Natalie again.

He worked up the courage to ask for that little girl's hand in marriage seventeen years later, knowing full well that it would be a life of hard labor since not long after defending her, Natalie came down with an illness. The illness left her weak and one of her legs mangled. But he once more gladly accepted the burden, and went off to work for a cure.

It was this search for work that landed him his current job, in the midst of filthy bandits. He'd searched high and low for work everywhere else, at all the nearby villages. But he couldn't find any work, not as a carpenter, a mason, or even a baker. So he did what he did best, he sold his skills as a fighter.

"Okay, so you'll pay us triple our original fee if we get you that woman hiding in the fort, the one with the sword?"

That was Carjiga. Dorcas narrowed his eyes as the large man spoke. He was an opportunistic pig with delusions of grandeur. How he got to be in charge of this group, Dorcas didn't know. And he wasn't that bright either. After all, he was consorting with those dark cloaked men.

Their very presence sent a shiver down Dorcas' spine. Something about them didn't seem right, from the way they moved to the way the cooling evening air around them seemed colder than it should have. In either case, the other men that followed Carjiga had surrounded the group holed up in the abandoned castle up ahead. They'd have already attacked if these dark men hadn't shown up and started waving their money around.

"I assure you that I can pay you three times your fee now, and another four when we get back to town," the leader of the dark men said, a cavalier with black as ebony armor. "Just be sure you get us the girl, alive. Do what you will with the others."

"Those mongrels are the ones who did that disgrace to poor Migal," Carjiga snarled. "Everyone but Migal was dead and Migal was disfigured beyond compare. They must be punished for what they did. Now that we're settled on the terms, we can move out."

"I and my men will remain here while you do your part," the cavalier said. "When you've apprehended the woman, we'll come in and take her away. Then I will remain with you to assure you get your payment while my men take the woman away."

"Very well," Carjiga said. The two men turned and walked back to their respective groups. Once Carjiga was amongst his men, he shouted, "Men, we've got a big pay day coming up. Let's go in there and kill them who did us bad. But don't none of you brigands touch the woman in blue with a sword. She's mine, you got that?!"

Shouts and grunts of agreement rose up around Carjiga. Dorcas snorted and crossed his arms. Being a large man himself, Dorcas wasn't the least bit intimidated by Carjiga's size, but picking a fight with his employer wasn't on his list of things to do. So when Carjiga's eyes zeroed in on him, he had to force the grimace off of his face.

"You," Carjiga shouted as he started toward Dorcas. "Hey you! You're name's Dorcas, right?"

Dorcas stiffened as he forced himself to nod and look into the despicable man's eyes. There was a cruel intelligence behind those eyes, despite how small that intelligence was. A jeering sneer appeared on the man's face as came to a stop next to Dorcas.

"You haven't done much since you joined us," Carjiga said. "If those weapons of yours aren't just for show, today's the day to let us see what you can do. Catch my drift?" Dorcas nodded again and Carjiga let a despicable grin grow across his bearded face. "Good. I want you to attack from the back entrance to the east. There's supposed to be a woman wearing blue with a sword inside. I want you to capture her. Do that, and I'll increase your share of this take. If you want gold, you'll get the job done."

"A bunch of women, huh?" Dorcas said to himself as Carjiga turned and headed toward the field of battle. "It would break Natalie's sweet heart to see me sink so low."

"You! Thief!" Dorcas was shaken from his brooding by Carjiga's shouting. "Yes you," Carjiga continued when the cloaked man pointed at himself. "I don't know you so you must be new. Go help Dorcas, he'll tell you what to do." The cloaked figure saluted and walked casually toward Dorcas. Carjiga eyed the two of them for a few minutes before he grunted and went on his way.

Dorcas sighed and hefted his axe up onto his shoulder. He apparently couldn't keep a sullen look from crossing his face because the first thing the thief said was, "Why so blue big man?"

"I'm not sure if you'd laugh or cry if I told you," Dorcas said. "Let's just get this over with. We need to go in the back and capture a woman. I just have to remember this is all for Natalie."

"Who's Natalie?" Dorcas frowned. He was sure he said that last part barely above a whisper, too low a sound to be heard by anyone save a dog or other beast. "Oh, is that something we're not supposed to talk about?"

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"Nope," the thief said matter-of-factly. "I guess you could say I joined just for this fight. The name's Lloyd, nice to meet ya Dorcas. What's a guy like you doing working for a bunch of low lives like this, anyway?"

"Coming from a thief, I hardly expect you to know anything of hard work or labors for those you care about. Your stock and trade is stealing things that others have, isn't it? So don't start acting all buddy-buddy with me. Let's just get this job done and get paid."

Lloyd raised his hands up innocently. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. I'm just your average thief, out for myself with nothing to gain but the gold in your pockets. Well, maybe not yours… but you know what I mean." Although the raised hood of his cloak prevented Dorcas from seeing most of his face, the large male did see the flash of white as Lloyd grinned wolfishly at him.

Dorcas rolled his eyes as he led the way into the forest, making his way around toward the back of the fort. Lloyd remained a few steps behind him the whole time. In a way, this Lloyd unnerved him just as much as those black cloaked men. It was a different sort of unnerving, admittedly, but he was certain that he had seen a flash of red from beneath that hood, and that was more than enough to make him uneasy. Behind him, he heard Lloyd shrug and mutter something under his breath before trotting alongside him. He marveled to himself at how anyone could walk that quietly.

* * *

"How many of them are out there?" Lyn asked herself. She stuck her head outside the back door of the ruins. The moment that Florina had said that the place was being approached by bandits, Lyn had gotten Natalie to hide, sent the knights take the main entrance, and claimed the back entrance for herself. Wil let her know shortly after she'd taken position that he'd found a weak point in the west support wall. He and Florina took that as their spot in case it caved in during the fighting and presented the bandits with a new opening.

From her position, she could just make out four hulking forms hidden amongst the trees. Beyond that lay shrouded in darkness. She pulled her head back into the building to keep from being seen. She suppressed an annoyed grunt and leaned against the wall.

She didn't like being boxed up like this. And to make it worse, these bandits had them surrounded since nightfall. It was the worst kind of torture she could imagine, waiting for some terrible battle that never showed. She reasoned it was a ploy to unnerve her and make her easy to defeat. What made her want to growl was that this infernal ploy was working.

On the other side of the fortress, Wil's finger pushed through the soft moss growing across the old wall. The green growth popped out the other side and landed on the ground with a splat. A light brown eye replaced the finger, peering through the dirt laden hole.

"I count at least seven shadows moving about out there. Coupled with what we know is sulking around by the other sides, I'd say that their numbers have doubled, at least." Wil pulled back from the wall, his arms crossed. "It looks like they're preparing to attack."

"I…"

Wil turned and looked at Florina, who sat upon Huey's back with her Slim Lance pulled up close in front of her. Her eyes were wide open and never left the hole he'd poked through the wall. "Florina, are you okay?"

"OH!" Florina jumped on Huey's back and lost her grip on the Slim Lance. Huey, who's had his wings tucked in against his side, his eyes half lidded, and his head hung low, jerked fully awake with a whinny. Wil stood back as she fought with the reigns, the bucking Pegasi, and the Slim Lance stuck on her stirruped boot. "Huey!"

From the front entrance, Kent turned his head when he heard the commotion. He frowned and shook his head when the echoes of soft cooing trailed off. Sain glanced at his companion briefly before he went back to scanning the clearing in front of the castle.

"What I wouldn't give for a couple experienced soldiers. Or if only one person, I'd take General Wallace. He'd even the odds up pretty nice. Wouldn't you say?" Kent looked to his companion. But Sain continued to scan the clearing. He didn't even make an attempt to act like he was paying attention. "Look Sain, we can't keep fighting like this. We lose our concentration and we'll more than likely get gutted." Still, Sain didn't respond. He turned his head slightly, but only to scan a new portion of the clearing. "Fine, if you want to act like a spoiled child, that's fine."

"I see movement. Ready your sword and prepare for battle."

"What?" Kent looked forward again only to have a bandit barrel in close before he could get his sword into position. Just before the axe could cleave Kent's skull, though, Sain's lance did so to the bandit.

"Kent, get your head together. We've got to protect the women."

Lyn heard the first clangs of battle and grunts emanating from the front of the castle. She immediately grabbed onto the hilt of the Mani Kattie and stuck her head out the door again. Though she could hear the others begin to fight, there was no one approaching her side of the castle. Even the shadows of the bandits hiding in the trees were gone.

"That's odd," she said aloud. "Where did they go?" She walked out of the castle into the small clearing around the entrance. "I could swear they were here a moment ago."

She grimaced, not only disturbed by the long, grating wait, but now by the sudden disappearance of the enemy. Just as she was turning around to head back into the safety of the castle, the Mani Katti sent a jolt up through her hand and arm. The muscle spasms made her cry out and fall to her knee, just milliseconds before two arrows whistled through the space where her head used to be.

"What?!"

"Oh shit, I missed!" The archer's voice above her head made Lyn's eyes widen, and while the cursing continued outside, she looked at the Mani Katti in wonder; the sword was still glowing, but now it was a slightly malicious shade of red, and that made Lyn even more nervous. 'Lloyd … where are you?' She asked silently, wishing that the older male was there; with him around Lyn knew that there was no way for her to lose. Pausing when she caught onto her thought process, she shook her head. 'No. Bad Lyn, stop thinking like that; Lloyd would want you to figure out how to fight these monsters off on your own.' She told herself, quickly heading back into the castle as another arrow shot past her to shatter on the stone wall inside.

At the far wall, Wil had begun to fire as well, using the small hole to his advantage. He'd already taken out two of the bandits' archers from arrows to the head. Right now, he was peppering a burly pair of swordsman who were trying to smash through the weakened wall. "Florina, get ready in case the wall comes down." Wil turned to the young Pegasus Knight, who had finally managed to get Huey calm. Although it was obvious that there was terror written on her face, she braced her slim lance just as part of the wall came down, leaving a gap just large enough for her to ram a lance through.

Which was exactly what she did the moment the head of one of the bandits appeared; lifting the thin weapon, Florina threw it at the gap, praying that she hit who she was aiming at instead of Wil. Relief crossed her face as a gurguling noise was heard, the man she had killed slumping against the fractured wall. Nudging Huey forward slightly, she pulled the lance out of the body, only to cry out and duck as another part of the wall caved in. Huey let out a neigh, rearing back and flailing with his hooves, forcing Wil into ducking away, feathering another brigand as they dodged the rearing Pegasi.

Finally regaining control of her mount, Florina squeezed his ribs with her thighs, prompting Huey into the air, where she had the decided advantage. Even so, she was forced to dodge away from the axes and swords that would have cut her in two otherwise. She missed as often as she hit, and unless she was lucky, the wounds were more often than not superficial. Wil wasn't having much better luck, and had to resort to clubbing most of his attackers with his bow. "Florina, we've got to pull back!" Wil finally shouted about the din, sprinting down the hallway towards Kent and Sain. Cutting the head off of another bandit, Florina turned Huey in the same direction, but veered slightly in order to put more distance between the attackers and Natalie, who hid behind a decaying wall.

Kent saw them coming, but was incapable of responding as he was dodging away from the rain of axes that were heading towards him. More than once he was glad that Striker knew him so well, as the destrier reared and kicked out without Kent telling him to do so. Cutting down another bandit with his sword, Kent gritted his teeth as the blade of another axe came dangerously close to ripping through his leg. Turning around to attack the man himself, he was spared the need as Sain's lance neatly sliced through his neck, the blood splattering the blade crimson as Romeo kicked backwards, crushing a bandit's chest just as Florina rammed a lance through him.

"Thanks." Kent panted out before turning his blade on another bandit, cutting off the top of the attacker's ear while a crimson slash appeared on his chest. Sain didn't respond, too busy slamming the iron shod butt of his lance in the face of a downed bandit. A resounding crack signaled that the weapon had broken the bone between the eyes, killing the man as Wil feathered the one behind him. While the bandits did increase in numbers, the four were keeping them from entering the fortress fully, and Natalie was still safe.

Back at her part of the ruins, Lyn listened intently to the din on the other side. "Why are they only attacking over there?" She wondered, and was about to go and join the fray when the distinct sound of a hand axe in the air made her jump to one side and swing with the Mani Katti, deflecting the weapon back into the trees it had come from.

Dorcas had to jerk his head to one side as the axe embedded itself into the tree beside his head. "She's got a good arm with her sword." He mused to himself, tugging the weapon out of the bark with one hand. Looking back at the entrance that Lyn stood in front of, he watched as two arrows flew at her, only to be dodged as she rolled away and landed upright with her sword in front of her. Turning to look for Lloyd, Dorcas stopped when he saw that the thief was laughing and clapping his hands as he watched the fight.

"She's one tough girl, that she is." He grinned, eyes dancing beneath his raised hood. Seeing the look Dorcas was giving him, Lloyd laughed and shook his head. "What, a man can't appreciate a good swordswoman when he sees one?"

"Never you mind; I'm going to go and try to capture her now." Dorcas said, bitter resentment filling his voice. "Are you going to come and help, or will you sit here and spectate?" When Lloyd grinned and dropped to the ground behind him, he shook his head and turned around, throwing his axe again as he charged forward, drawing a heavier one from where it rested in his belt.

Lyn dodged away from the thrown axe once again, but was barely able to get the Mani Katti in between her and Dorcas' axe as it cut an arc through the air towards her head. When the two weapons met in a clanging of steel, Lyn got a good look at his face, a gasp leaving her. "You! You're Dorcas!"

He stopped the moment heard his name. How could she know his name? Why did she know it? Was there a bounty out on his head for merely being associated with theses bandits? No, he was jumping to conclusions. Natalie would skin him alive if he did something bad enough to make him a wanted man. Still… He needed to know. "How do you know my name?"

The girl cocked her head to the side as she took a step forward into the moonlight. "It is you! You look just like the picture Natalie drew."

"Natalie?" he moved in closer, but lowered his axe, its weight resting easy in his palm should he need to strike. The girl, he noticed, seemed to be doing the same with her sword. He realized underestimating her would be his downfall. Still, his quest for knowledge came first. How did this girl know about him and Natalie?

"Yes, but what are you doing with these rogues? Surely the kind man Natalie spoke of isn't the kind to attack innocent people?"

He grimaced. He knew what she said was right, but what else could he do? "I need the money, for-"

"Money?!" the girl bellowed. Her face grew red as she went on. "You'd join up with mercenaries and do despicable things all for the sake of money? With no thought to the well being of your wife?"

"I love my wife!" he bellowed back. His voice, deeper and louder, echoed off the castle walls and drowned out the sounds of fighting for several moments. "My wife is the very reason I'm out here. Do you really think I like teaming up with these miscreants to earn money? Do you really? I'd love to find a better job, but this is the only way to earn gold around these parts and I'll do anything, anything, to get the money I need to help my wife."

"Anything? Really?" The girl took a step back and readied her sword. A dark and dangerous glint appeared in her eyes, prompting him to ready his own axe. "Are you seriously fool enough to try and earn gold by destroying that which you cherish the most? Your wife resides within these very walls. We're protecting her from you fools!"

"You lie!" he growled. "She's too sickly to even leave the house, let alone make it all the way out here." He lifted his axe and pointed it at the girl.

"We found her here when we arrived. She's been looking for you for the past few days because she was worried about you. That's how I knew what you looked like, from the picture she showed me of you." The girl lowered her guard a little, a move he wasn't expecting. He wasn't going to let the opportunity pass him up though. But just as he was about to strike, he heard a scream that curdled his blood and sent shivers up his spine. The sound froze him on the spot.

"What was that?" the girl turned and looked back into the darkened entrance of the fortress.

"Lyn! They're overrunning us, get back here!" The girl immediately turned and ran into the fortress, just as Lloyd appeared from the forest. Dorcas glanced at the thief briefly, before starting into the castle.

"What happened to you back there?" he asked.

"Oh, you know, pilfering treasure, backstabbing, the usual," Lloyd waved the issue off as he sauntered forward. Just as the two of them entered the darkness, the two corpses of the archers that were shooting at Lyn fell out of the trees they were hiding in.

Inside, Dorcas followed the sounds of battle until he came up a doorway. He could hear the sounds of battle coming from the other side and sidled up close to the entrance, ready to round the corner and attack. Lloyd appeared next to him, back also against the wall. With a nod, Dorcas burst around the corner, shouted and charged. His battle cry died in his throat; his axe quickly forgotten.

"I… I tried…"

The other side of the room was blockaded by two cavaliers, fighting tooth and nail against his comrades. Just behind the two horsemen were a wounded Pegasus rider and an archer. The archer was firing past the two cavaliers whenever he got a clear shot, but he was running short on arrows.

"I failed her… I couldn't protect her…"

Dorcas too fell to his knees, next to the girl he was sent to kidnap. In front of them lay his wife, Natalie, with an arrow lodged in her chest. Crimson blossoms bloomed on her clothes and the scent of copper filled his nostrils. The air caught in his throat as he realized this girl was speaking the truth, that he'd been the most ultimate of fools. And now he'd lost everything he'd cared about. Everything that meant the world to him lay in front of him with an arrow through it.

"Dor…cas…" His eyes widened when he realized that Natalie wasn't entirely dead yet. "Dor…cas…" Blood gurgled in her throat and her words were cut off by the most severe coughing he'd ever heard come from a living being. Not living for much longer, he realized, and quickly scooted forward and lifted the small frame of his wife up into his arms.

"Natalie," he whispered. "I'm here, Natalie. It'll be alright. Everything will be alright."

"Dorcas," Natalie sighed, a content smile appearing on her face. "I finally found you. Are you safe, are you well?"

"Don't worry about me, just focus on getting stronger, okay?" his voice was cracking. He felt hot tears leave burn marks as they slipped from his eyes. The liquid scorched his skin where it touched. "You'll be okay, right? You survived the sickness; you'll live through this too."

Natalie reached a hand out and softly brushed the side of Dorcas' face. "We both know I won't be here for much longer. I love you…. My knight in…" As the breath left her body, so did the life. Dorcas felt it in his arms, through his fingers. Her heart had stopped. A cacophony of emotions ballooned inside him. He felt like all at once he would explode and implode at the same time. His head felt like it was splitting open and yet he felt devoid and empty. But worst of all, he could feel his own heart breaking in half, and it was killing him.

The sounds of battle reached him at that moment. The two cavaliers were being pushed back into the room. The men, no, monsters that killed his wife were breaking through their line. Calmly, more so than he thought that he was, he laid his wife's body down and stood up. He retrieved his axe and faced the front. Today, he would join his wife in the underworld, but only after he'd destroyed those who'd killed her first. With that, the last shred of sanity, of clear thoughts, left him, and he was a raging beast.

Lloyd watched Dorcas lay his dead wife down and rush into battle. It was like watching a wild animal that was cornered attack. His axe swings were ferocious, taking off heads or cleaving clean through whole bodies in one stroke. Not something one can normally do, even with an extremely sharp weapon. For the first time in a while, Lloyd felt the thrill of fear run through his system, and simultaneously, pity. Well, pity for the bandits, that is.

He moved into the room after Dorcas had taken the fight outside. Kent was the first one to see him, he'd been clubbed over the head and was applying a vulnerary. A dark look over came his features just as Sain gained a surprised look. Sain, oddly, looked no worse for the wear, if you looked past the blood spattered all over his armor and the nicks along his arms. Wil watched him with wide eyes. Not a scratch on him, but he looked exhausted and was completely out of arrows. Florina was in bad shape; she gasped lightly when she noticed him, but was cut off by the pain from her gut wound. It looked worse than it felt, more than likely. Huey was cut up as well, and he was missing more than a few feathers. Lyn was the last to notice him, only realize his presence when he placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, tear stained cheeks glistening, eyes searching.

"I… I wasn't strong enough..." she managed to get out.

"Pull the arrow out," he said.

They all stared at him dumbly. He repeated himself.

"W-why?" Kent asked. "Hasn't she suffered enough? Must you sate your lust for depravity here?!"

Kent's breathe held in his throat when Lloyd glared at him. "I said, pull the arrow out. I'll not repeat myself. When I'm done, I won't wake for three days. Try not to let me die."

"What are you saying Lloyd?" Lyn asked. "What do you mean?"

"Just pull the arrow out and watch," he repeated. Lyn looked at him for a few more seconds and then nodded. Kent took a step forward but Sain quickly grabbed a hold of him, keeping him back. With a quick jerk, Lyn pulled the arrow out of Natalie's chest with a loud popping noise. Blood bubbled to the surface, adding another layer of red to the already bloody cloth.

Lloyd took a step forward so that he stood with the toes of his boots touching Natalie's bloody sleeve. Then, as Lyn scooted back and tossed the arrow as far away as she could, he raised both hands so that one was held over Natalie's head and the other over her legs. Then he closed his eyes. Time seemed to slow as the candle light in the room dimmed. Wind movement picked up, swirling around the room with Lloyd at the center. The air slowly gained internal luminescence as it gathered and became denser. Faint outlines of different symbols appeared in the air, there one second, gone the next. All the while, the glowing white air grew thicker, stronger, faster.

"Guiding light, lead this soul back to the warmth of life." Lloyd said, his voice echoing. The swirling clouds of white condensed on Lloyd and a perfectly circular beam was projected from above, straight through the ceiling. Outside the fortress, the night sky was lit by the column of light, everyone not fleeing for their lives from Dorcas stopped to stare up at its grand beauty. Inside, Natalie's body rose from the floor, lifted by an unseen force and absorbing all of the white clouds that used to be swirling about her and Lloyd. "Resurrection!"

The column of light flashed brightly and disappeared. Everyone in the room had their eyes shielded from the blast of light, so when they lowered their arms, they were shocked to find Natalie standing, alive and well. Natalie herself looked just as troubled, looking down at her body, and patting over the healed wounds that had just moments ago robbed her of her life. Beside her, Lloyd lay passed out on the ground, pale beyond anything any of them had seen him before. "I'm… alive?" Natalie looked down at her bloody hands, turning them around and studying them as if they weren't really hers. "But how?"

"Lloyd!" Lyn got over her shock and quickly went to Lloyd's side. She leaned over him and felt for a pulse, then held her wrist above his nose and mouth. The stress in her frame relaxed after a moment. "He's not dead. He's just unconscious."

"He said he'd be asleep for three days," Wil said. "I guess using so much magic has a cost. I'm not a mage though, so I wouldn't know about that sort of stuff."

"Aaaaaaaaggggggghhhhhhhhh!" The terrible roar echoed through the chambers of the fortress. Everyone noticeably flinched and gripped their weapons tighter.

"Dorcas?!" Natalie turned and started toward the exit. "That's Dorcas! He … he doesn't know. Someone has to tell him!" Natalie collapsed after a moment, gasping with a grimace as she gripped her leg. Squinting, she began dragging herself forward across the floor. "No… I have to tell Dorcas! I can't … not now!"

She stopped when a hand gripped her shoulder and lifted her into a sitting position. Lyn kneeled down next to her and said, "I'll go tell him, okay? You stay here and rest. I can't imagine being dead and being brought back to life, but I don't think it was easy." Lyn stood. "Kent, Sain, you're with me."

"Of course, milady," they both said.

"Give your leftover vulneraries to Wil and Florina. Will, I want you to keep an eye out for any stragglers that try to get in; Florina, just focus on getting better, okay?" Florina nodded, trembling as she took the vulnerary that Sain offered her, applying it to the wound across her midriff as Natalie settled next to her.

* * *

Outside, Carjiga could only watch as his men were cut down as Dorcas continued in his rampage. The rampage was completely ferocious, with the axe wielder causing it not once receiving a scratch as he continued to plow through the now frightened bandits, an animalistic scream leaving him on numerous occasions. "What the hell is wrong with him?" He wondered aloud, lifting his own axe to fight as Dorcas tore through the last of the bandits to reach him.

He was a fearsome sight; it was hard to find a spot on him not drenched in blood, and his eyes weren't wild as Carjiga had expected, but were rather filled with an odd sort of cold, calculated fury as his axe went up into the air again, aiming straight for Carjiga. The bandit barely managed to lift his own axe in time to block the strike that would otherwise have removed his head, the motion bringing him eye to eye with Dorcas. Muscles strained as the two shoved against one another. "Get a hold of yourself, you madman!" Carjiga shouted, shoving Dorcas off of him.

"You killed Natalie." Came the answering growl as Dorcas lunged again. This time, Carjiga wasn't able to get away in time, and Dorcas' axe opened a long gash across his chest, crimson blood following the blade of his axe as it cleared the area. The wound was superficial, but it was still enough to make Carjiga shout out in shock and turn, fleeing with his few surviving men. Dorcas watched them go, breathing heavily for a few moments before letting out a defeated sigh.

Looking up at the sky for a few moments, Dorcas felt his eyes grow blurry from tears as the axe slipped from his hand, thunking into the ground and remaining upright. Finally letting out a low moan, he sank down beside the weapon and buried his face in his hands, letting the tears slip out of his eyes as he sat there.

Lyn, Kent and Sain found him like that a few moments later, in the middle of the dead bodies that were scattered around them; the large man was audibly sobbing. After giving a cautious look to Kent and Sain, Lyn drew a deep breath and walked towards Dorcas and reached out. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she wasn't startled when he didn't respond. "Dorcas ... Dorcas, will you listen to me?" She asked, not certain of how to tell the man the news.

"... Let me be ..." Dorcas' voice was hoarse and broken, making Lyn shiver. It wasn't right to see him like this, and she glanced backwards as if to ask the two knights for help. Kent shrugged and looked at Sain, who also gave a helpless shrug. When Lyn turned to face him again, they both shrugged in unison at her, making her sigh in exasperation.

'Well, they're no help ...' She thought to herself. Finally drawing a deep breath, she turned to Dorcas again as he lifted his face out of his hands. "Dorcas, uhmmm ... Lloyd, well, he has some odd trick of his ..." She began, not really certain about how to explain something she herself didn't understand.

"Lloyd? You mean that ... thief?" Dorcas asked, remembering that the theif who had been with him was named Lloyd. "Did he do something to Natalie's ... what can a thief do?"

"He healed her ... somehow ..." Lyn replied, not really able to mask her own disbelief. "Somehow, he managed it, but he passed out right afterwords." Natalie's fine, but she's really worried sick about you."

Dorcas didn't know how to respond, although his mind was insisting that Lyn was lying to him. But that didn't seem right; Natalie had been here, just like this girl had claimed. But Natalie had been killed; he'd held her as she'd breathed her last, he _knew _Natalie had died. But … how could anyone bring someone back from the dead?

His musing were cut off as the black-clad warrior from before approached. Apart from the black armored cavalier with gold eyes, there was a pair of healers, a mage and a foot soldier, all in black cloaks. The cavalier stepped forward. "Lyndis of Caelin, you are to come with us to meet our master. Come quickly now, and we will spare your companions; our master does not like to be kept waiting." He stated, voice cold. Lyn shivered as she looked him over.

"And if I refuse?" She retorted, her grip on the Mani Katti tightening; something about this man felt wrong, _very_ wrong. 'I don't think this warrior's human in any sense of the word …' she thought to herself. Out of curiosity, she spared a glance towards Striker and Romeo; both destriers had laid their ears flat the instant they got a whiff of the black rider's scent.

The cavalier gave Lyn a cold smile. "Then we kill all of your companions, even that peasant woman you're protecting." His voice didn't hold any emotion, but the mere threat was enough to make Lyn, Kent and Sain tense. It seemed that the other five fighters around the cavalier were under his command, because they nodded in agreement.

"I guess we'll just have to kill you first then." Lyn finally replied, holding the Mani Katti before her in an offensive position. Kent moved up beside her, his sword held at the ready while Sain prepared his lance. The cavalier said nothing, but merely nodded, and the foot soldier charged at the three, the mage behind it casting magic.

Just before the man's spear came close enough to hit Lyn, Dorcas' axe found itself lodged in the man's chest. Startled, as Dorcas had made no move before now to join the fight, Lyn stood slackjawed as the fighter stood up, pulled his axe from the ground, and cut the soldier's chest open with a clean slash. Turning to Lyn, he spoke, "I may not know to believe you if Natalie is alive or not, but you were telling the truth before, about Natalie being here. Either way, I will not let you die when you did your best to defend her when I failed." Nodding his head at Lyn, Dorcas pulled his spare axe out of the dying man's body. "From here on out, I will fight for you until you reach your destination, as payment for what you have done."

Lyn smiled at the tall man, but didn't reply right away as the mage's fire spell flew at her. Leaning back, she felt her spine pop as she nearly bent herself in half to dodge the attack. Flipping over to keep her balance, she landed lightly and charged, flashing out of existence. She reappeared a split second later, the Mani Katti flashing in the moonlight as first the mage's arms fell off his body, quickly followed by the head.

The first healer went to smack Lyn with her staff when Striker bowled into her, the destrier's huge body knocking her down enough for Kent to kill her with a sword blow. The second one screamed something before being cut off as Sain's lance impaled her from behind, having been thrown as Sain rode up. Drawing the weapon out of the corpse, Sain and Kent both raised their lances at the dark cavalier, who raised his own to combat them.

The three horse riders collided in a loud ringing of steel, the black rider managing to drive Kent and Sain off a few feet, swinging his own wicked lance around him. Lyn was there a second later, slashing at his mount with the Mani Katti. The horse didn't take kindly to the action and began to rear, nearly kicking Lyn in the face with one of its hooves. Dorcas joined the fray a moment later, axe cutting at the straps that held the saddle on the horse.

Somehow, the dark cavalier managed to handle the gang assault for a good long while, and managed to give Kent and Sain a few slashes each, as well as whapping Dorcas upside the head with his lance haft, giving the large man a quickly purpling bruise on his left jawbone. But he'd been injured as well, and it was only a matter of time before he fell. Locking eyes with Lyn, the dark cavalier gave her an emotionless smile. "So, you are a stubborn one; my master will be most pleased when you're given over to him. Such a strong soul …"

"I am _not_ letting you take me _anywhere!_" Lyn retorted, fury making her lash out at the cavalier once more. While her blow missed him, it severed the leather girdle and buckle of the saddle, allowing the horse to bolt, making the cavalier drop to the ground in a clatter of armor. Not wanting to risk letting him get up again, Kent and Sain both staked the man's arms to the ground with their lances, and Lyn held the Mani Katti above him, pointing the silver blade at his throat.

Instead of lashing out again and killing the man, she instead looked at Dorcas. "Would you like to do the honors?" She asked him, earning a startled look. "He's more than likely the reason Natalie was put in danger here in the first place." Dorcas' looked at the man for a moment, and then at Lyn. Something in his eyes hardened, and with a quick slash from his axe, beheaded the cavalier, watching the helmed head roll away a good distance.

Sighing in relief, Kent went to pull his lance out of the man's arm when he let out a startled yelp. A hiss echoed in the air as the others returned their attention to the pinned corpse; even as they watched, it dissolved into ash before blowing away on the wind, the distinct scent of long decayed flesh lingering in the air. All four shuddered. "Sain, I think we should clean our weapons extra well tonight; I don't like the feel of this." Kent stated, to which Sain nodded rapidly. Both knights seemed hesitant to reclaim their lances, but they both had them pulled out of the ground and in hand before much longer.

Lyn sighed, and then looked up at the sky; the moon was high in the air, reaching the point of midnight. "Let's head inside and get some rest. The other's are probably worried." She stated, lifting up her hand to hide a yawn. Kent and Sain nodded in agreement, and the three set off, Dorcas following them after a moment of studying the dead bodies around the area. With a sigh, he trailed a short distance behind them, wondering what he would do with his life now that Natalie …

"Dorcas!" His head jerked up at the call. Was he imagining things? "Dorcas, you're alright!" No … there, near the entrance hobbling towards him and the others … Natalie!!

Dropping his axe, Dorcas ran towards her. "Natalie!" Catching the thin woman, he lifted her off the ground in a strong hug, not really knowing what to believe as he felt Natalie's slim arms fling around his neck. "But … how … I … you …" Dorcas stammered for a few moments, but eventually gave up in questioning the miracle and simply embraced his wife for all that he was worth, letting her cry happily into his shirt as the others went on inside, letting them have their moment.

* * *

Rekka Omake!  
"Fear the Quiet Ones"

Kent is normal, Lyn is **bold**, Sain is _italics,_ and Dorcas is underlined.

I'm glad we managed to get Dorcas calmed down. I was seriously shaking when we saw the destruction out there.  
**Well, they'd killed Natatlie; it makes sense that he'd turn so absolutely berserk. **  
_That doesn't make it any less unnerving, milady. I'm just glad we chased those men off._  
**I think we have Dorcas to thank for that.**  
*ashamed* I lost my temper. I'm normally not like that on the field of battle.  
You were cutting through brigands left, right, and center. I was barely able to catch sight of you through all the blood.  
When one loses what all they hold precious, that sort of rampage is all that one is capable of at first. Excuse me, but I should take Natalie home; we live close by. *leaves*  
**… You know, I've just met him, and I already know he's a nice, quiet guy.**  
_And that's why it's always the quiet ones you should fear the most.__  


* * *

_

_And yay, a happy ending to a chapter for once! Dorcas has an awesome personality, it's a shame he doesn't get more love. ^^ Yeah, not a lot of Lloyd this chapter, but hey, we got to pay attention to (almost) everyone else, no? _

_Hope this chapter was worth the wait! Until next time!!_


	7. Beyond the Borders

**Lloyd**: Okay, what do I have to do now?  
V: Say the disclaimer.  
**Lloyd:** Is that all?  
V: No, you must also wear Lederhosen.  
**Lloyd: **What?  
_Li: _*Randomly wanders in* Guten Tag~!  
**Lloyd: **The hell?  
_Li: _I'm two-thirds Swavish German, leave me be, dumkoff! *hits Lloyd with clipboard*  
V: Well Lloyd... we're waiting...  
**Lloyd: ***sigh* Fine! *Puts on Lederhosen* Hey... these are almost exactly like my suspenders... wait... Oh no! I wear Lederhosen! *T-T*  
_Li: _XDDD

Chapter Six: Beyond the Borders

(Dread Isle)  
"Lord Nergal, the experiment you sent out to capture that traveling Lordling was destroyed last night." A cloaked man appeared, speaking to Nergal while the teleport magic still hung heavily in the air. The dark druid ignored the newcomer as he poured over a large, ancient tome that seemed to be making a constant, low hissing noise in his gnarled hand. At length, Nergal looked up from it, his permanent scowl growing deeper as his messenger continued. "The girl has allies… powerful allies."

"Hmph; I shall simply have to send out a stronger one next time." Nergal scoffed and went back to his reading, seemingly disinterested in anything else the man had to say. As if in agreement, or just to emphasis it's dislike for Nergal, the book made a popping noise before it continued with its hissing. "No matter how powerful her friends are, they're no match for one of my stronger morphs." The cloaked man shifted and let out an uneasy noise. The uneasy silence and the continued presence of the messenger irked Nergal until he snapped, "What is it now, Ephidel."

"Sir, I cannot be certain but … I think that young man you pulled through the gate, before the siblings, is traveling with her." Ephidel flinched away from Nergal as the dark druid stood up suddenly. His sole good eye darkened in fury as he stalked to a small rounded orb on a table nearby. He cast his hand over it and looked for any unusual quintessence that popped out at him from the swirling mists suddenly erupting inside.

Indeed, the moment he found Lyn's quintessence, it was accompanied by the same brilliant light quintessence that had radiated around Lloyd. The light began overtaking the orb, illuminating the dark room beyond where Nergal was comfortable. With a flourish of his hand, the orb went dark again. "So… that explains it…" Nergal growled, trembling in rage. "I have yet come up with a proper way of disposing of that… mistake. And it doesn't help that he is strong. Especially against you Morphs. Fatally so."

Nergal looked back at Ephidel. The construct was looking down at the floor, what seemed like the emotion of shame or fear upon his face. Perhaps just a reaction to the brush with the strange white quintessence, he thought. After all, this one didn't have emotions. "Especially ones as strong as you and Sonia," Nergal continued, "if he burns the two of you, there is no doubt that any Morph made in the same way will burst into flames. You'd both burn from the inside out if you made contact." There was a long, uneasy pause before Nergal eventually scowled and shook his head.

"We will have to change our methods on dealing with the Lordling then, with that sort of alliance." He backed away from the crystal and faced Ephidel fully. "In the meantime, we need to continue to influence the Black Fang in our favor, go about getting into Lord Darin's good graces, infiltrating as many other Lycian states as we can, and there are very few worthy creations that I can spare in the meantime. Not only that, but we have to chase those siblings down and bring them back here; contact Sonia and tell her to have the Black Fang take of those two. In regards to the Caelin matter, let us watch and see what happens without interfering."

"As you command, Lord Nergal." Ephidel nodded, leaving to do his master's bidding even as he spoke. Nergal waited until he was gone before turning back to his tome. The book began hissing and popping loudly, the hissing sounding oddly feminine for a genderless book.

"Shut up!" Nergal barked. The volume of hissing and popping decreased greatly, but did not stop entirely. "It's not like you have a choice in the matter. Now… Let's see what the ancients had to say about angels…"

* * *

Lyn's eyes popped open and she instantly became fully awake. Her whole body tensed as the feeling of being under attack gripped her and she reached out for her sword. Then she remained still, listening through the calm morning sounds of birds chirping and a light breeze playing with the leaves attached to the tree branches above her for any indication of the bandits that she could practically feel just beyond her sight. After a few moments, her memories caught up with her.

Groaning, she sat up, trying to relax her body of the tension with a vigorous shiver. It felt like she'd only slept a couple hours, yet the world contradicted her biological clock by providing a sunrise on the horizon. She felt a small, tired smile crawl its way onto her lips as she quickly realized that she'd not be going back to sleep this morning.

To her right, on the far side of the camp, were Kent and Sain. Both were out of their armor, leaning against their horses. They looked cute, the way they shared a blanket and leaned in on one another. Like the closest of brothers despite the way they bickered when awake.

On the other side of the small clearing was Florina. She was asleep in almost exactly the same position as Kent and Sain, except she had her hands draped around Huey's neck while the winged horse had a wing cast protectively over her body. The look on her face was tranquil, if slightly euphoric. It brought to mind a memory of when she first met the Pegasus Rider, back when she and Huey were still getting used to each other. They hadn't been the closest of rider and Pegasi back then, to say the least.

Wil lay against the side of a partially destroyed brick wall. It might also have been partially worn away, she couldn't tell. The archer though looked troubled in his sleep. This was out of place for Wil, he was always the carefree one when he was awake. Part of her wondered what Wil had to be troubled about.

Besides him was the empty spot that Dorcas once occupied. She quickly discovered the towering man off a ways from the rest of the camp on a slight incline. He was faced toward the growing warmth of red in the sky with his shoulders hunched forward. Every now and then she'd see him glance up at the sky before going back to whatever it was he had in his hands.

This brought her gaze to rest upon the sleeping form of Lloyd, who lay prone on a blanket between her and the axe fighter. Frowning, she crawled over to Lloyd and lifted the stiff, dry rag from his forehead. The night before it'd been wet and pliable as a handful of worms. Lloyd didn't seem to have changed much over night. He was still just as pale and just as unconscious.

Deciding that worrying about Lloyd was going nowhere, she stood and moved over to the fire. Some embers were still alive in the pit, so she tossed a few twigs on. Then she pulled out a knife and shaved some wood onto the embers until a flame grew up. After the flame was large enough, she tossed the last of the firewood in and stood back.

A bright light suddenly grew from behind her. Her shadow became long and stark, stretching across the campsite to the other side and into the trees. She turned and felt herself gasping slightly as the sun rose over a very picturesque scene. She had the privilege of witnessing many sunrises in the plains, but the mountains casting their own long shadows, the rolling hills, the stretches of forest and the patches of grass somehow seemed to make the event more intense.

As the sun's rays warmed her face she saw Dorcas start moving in her peripheral vision. She looked away from the sunrise and saw him nod at her over his shoulder before he went back to doing whatever it was he was doing. With a resigned sigh, she turned her back on the sun. The cool air caressed her skin where the sun had warmed it as she moved toward her pack and started digging through it.

After pushing aside a couple vulneraries, she found what she was looking for: a map and a bright red apple. Sticking the apple in her mouth, she bit down on it and stood up. With the fruit lodged in her mouth she moved past the sleeping group, cast a worried glance at Lloyd, and moved to sit next to Dorcas. As she sat, she used both hands to fully open the map.

"Good morning," Dorcas said.

"Such a wonderful morning too," she responded after she completed the bite she started on the other side of the camp. As she chewed, she watched the sun for a bit more. Dorcas continued to fiddle with what she could now see was a small piece of wood and a whittling knife. At this point it still looked like a gnarly stick. "I've seen plenty of sunrises, but these mountains are simply spectacular.

"The Bern Mountains are renowned for their spectral beauty," Dorcas said. "At least, that's what I've heard the tour guides telling the Lycian nobles as they passed through my village."

"The Bern Mountains?" Lyn looked down at the map as she took another bite out of the apple. Its juices were sweet and left a tang on the sides of her tongue after she swallowed the meat of the fruit. "Where's that?"

Dorcas paused in his whittling and used the knife's point to indicate their position on the map, amongst the artist's rendering of a mountain range. "That's about where we are. This map looks rather old though, so some of the names may not be the same for the places that are on it. There's a pass through the mountains up ahead where we can slip through a part of Bern. On the other side is Lycia."

Lyn hummed to herself and took another chunk out of the apple as she traced a path from where they were at toward the path and back down toward the southern part of the map labeled "Lycian League." Then she went back and tracked the path back to where they'd started out in the plains of Sacea. When she traced the line again, there appeared a shortcut.

"That's odd…" she said, swallowing the apple bite in her mouth.

"Hmm?"

"No, it's not that I'm confused," she said through the next bite. "Actually I understand why Kent is taking us this way. See-" She pointed at the map, outlining the different routes. "-we're going on a detour, away from the beaten path. But even though we'll take longer to reach Caelin, we're less likely to run into anymore bandits."

"You're pretty good at reading maps if you could see all of that," Dorcas said, going back to his carving. "Can you tell how long it will take us to reach Caelin?"

"Hmm…" Lyn traced her finger over the map a couple times, taking steps with her fingers from where they were to the castle symbol drawn to depict the capitol of the Caelin Canton. "If I am reading this map right then it should only take a day and a half from where we are now. And that's with the detour. Had we gone straight there, we would be there this afternoon, is my guess."

"Actually, I figured it for two days," Kent said, walking to stand next to the both of them. He had one of the plates from his armor in one hand and a polishing rag rubbing it with the other. "We have to leave time for weather related delays. Not to mention any more run-ins with those bandits."

"Good morning," Dorcas said. Kent nodded back and continued to polish his armor. "Speaking of bandits, what do you believe the Bern soldiers will do when they see us leading a bunch of them into their territory?"

"If we can get an army to help us wouldn't that scare off the bandits?" Lyn asked. "Maybe we should go and ask them for help."

"That would be a bad idea, milady," Sain said. He appeared next to Kent, holding a half finished biscuit. Crumbs were scattered on his shirt and mouth, indicating where the rest of the biscuit had gone. "Think of how it would make Canton Caelin look if its heir apparent had gone to another nation outside the Lycian League for help. Not to mention that Bern is a competitor of sorts with the League. They would call us power hungry, back stabbing, no good scoundrels. We'd be quickly outlawed from the League's lands and you'd be stripped of title and disowned from your grandfather's family." Kent pursed his lips grimly as he went back to get another plate of armor to polish.

"What?" Lyn shouted. "How could they do anything like that? Just for asking for help? What kind of place is this League if asking for help with a real back stabbing, power hungry scoundrel is punished so severely?"

"I didn't mean to alarm you, milady," Sain said. He clasped his hands together in front of him, as if begging. "Please forgive me. I only meant to give you an idea of what the consequences of that decision would bring."

"I don't think I want to become the heir of Caelin if this is what it means," Lyn snarled. "Who the hell do they think they are?"

"They're also backstabbing, power hungry, no good scoundrels," Kent said. "Their goal is to get more power within the league or what have you so they can control its destiny. Currently, the Canton of Ostia is the most powerful, through no small effort of similar means and a sizable army." Kent paused when he saw the dark look on Lyn's face. "However," he quickly added, "there are other ways to get help from them, and from Bern for that matter."

"But I thought you said-"

"He's talking about the Bern Rangers," Dorcas said. Lyn looked at him quizzically. "They're a group of armed men who guard the borders of Bern," Dorcas explained.

Kent smiled as he lowered the piece of armor he was holding. It was a dark smile, as if he was daring the bandits to attack them. "They're not an official branch of the Bern military or part of any militia there. The emperor picks them personally for deeds of great valor and strength. They're not as powerful as the infamous Black Fang, mind you, but they're strong enough to keep the borderlands clear of bandits. If those following us try to enter Bern, the Rangers will catch wind of it eventually, track them down, and take them out."

"So… we're using Bern without them knowing it?" Lyn asked. "That's not a very honest thing to do."

"Most certainly not, milady," Sain said. "However, it would be worse to lead the bandits through farmland and the unprotected villages of Lycia, would it not? Not to mention Lord Ludgren won't be expecting us to cut through Bern. He won't know where we'll come from, which should allow us to sneak past his defenses."

"You two have really thought this out, haven't you?" They all looked behind them at Wil, who yawned and flashed them a grin as he walked into the clearing. He stretched one of his arms over and behind his head before switching to the other. "I really didn't think you had it in you."

"Oh my dear Wil," Sain said, feigning distraught pain. "You wound me. Have you no faith in the intellect of the great knights of Caelin?"

"He's talking about you, Sain," Kent said. He lightly knocked Sain upside the head with a balled up fist. "If you didn't goof around so much, people would take you more seriously."

Sain grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "Alas, if I were as serious as you, dear Kent, we'd all die of boredom before ever being captured by Lord Ludgren."

"I am no-" Kent stopped his retort when Lyn, Wil, and the now awake Florina burst into laughter. Dorcas was failing miserably at hiding his grin. And Huey seemed to be laughing, though it was only his eyes that shone with mirth.

Sain spread out his arms and gestured to the others. "Kent," he said, "it's a miracle. You've made them laugh." The last thing Sain saw that morning was a plate of half polished, orange armor flying at breakneck speeds toward his head.

* * *

"Oh look, an exit!" exclaimed the excitable girl. Her twin pigtails of pink hair bobbed quickly as she ran to the exit of the cave. "I think I found a way out. I told you not to fear, for I have the divine sense of direction." She spun around and thrust her staff at the valley below the cave opening. Her white clerical robes floating in the air for a moment before settling back down again.

"Serra," gasped the mage trailing behind her. He paused a moment to lean against the wall and catch his breath. "I thought you said you-_gasp_-knew the correct path. Instead you lead us-_gulp_-into the den of a bear and-_gasp_-then disappear after waking it up. I barely escaped with my life and I find you here, wandering around as if nothing was wrong."

"What's your point, Erk?" Serra asked curiously. She cocked her head to the side. "What are you trying to say?"

Erk's eyes bulged. "Wha- I- Ugh! I swear you are NOT the woman I agreed to escort!"

"What?" Serra frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Erk ignored her and started pacing back and forth. "I heard there was someone who needed an escort. A frail Lycian priestess who needed help getting to Ostia-"

"Yes," Serra said, nodding matter-of-factly. "That's me. I am that priestess."

"Frail! You!" Erk rounded on Serra and leaned forward, jabbing a finger at her. "Serra, you have no need of any escort to protect you. Even the most hardened criminal would flee in terror after five minutes in your company."

Serra regarded Erk carefully for a few moments before she gradually pushed him away, muttering, "Have you ever heard of personal space?"

Erk sighed and turned around. "I'll gladly return your cursed money. Now, will you please go on to Ostia alone?"

"No!" Erk cringed at the squealed exclamation. "You are MY escort, Erk! MINE!" Erk turned and tried to pour as much acid into his glare as he could. Serra ignored this and continued. "You're so clean and tidy too… A noblewoman such as myself can't be seen without proper escort."

Erk groaned into the hand he covered his face with. Why did fate have to take a dump on him? What did he do to deserve _her_?

"You're personality's nothing special," Serra said as she continued to size him up. "But at least you're not bad to look at."

"Gee," Erk said, each word drenched with sarcasm, "what a surprisingly good description…"

"Oh," Serra said with a sickeningly sweet smile. "It's nothing."

"Must I take you all the way to Ostia?" Erk trudged past Serra and out of the cave. She quickly skipped past him along the path that entered into a wooded area. "I only hope my sanity makes it out in one piece."

"What are you mumbling about?" Serra shouted back from ahead on the path. "You're so gloomy!" Serra's head turned to the side suddenly. "Hm? Something's happening over there," she said, pointing off the path with her stave. "Let's go look!"

Without waiting for any kind of response from him, she bound away, almost gleefully, into the underbrush of the wood. Erk rolled his eyes and grunted as he left the path to follow her. He had to navigate thickets of brambles and imposing fat conifer trees with branches bent low to the ground.

"Of course," Erk mused to himself, "the first opportunity to get involved in trouble, and she jumps right in. No amount of money is worth this-ugh!"

"Shhh!" Serra shushed right into his face. She'd pulled him down to a hiding place beneath a bush. Just beyond the roots was the end of the forest where the valley opened up into a wide open plain. A couple houses were visible here and there in the distance, but what attracted the most attention was the group of bandits ganging up on another group of what looked like mercenaries.

"Wow!" Serra breathed. Then she sprung back up and pointed excitedly. "A fight! A fight! Look Erk! A fight! And there are bandits! And they're fighting… a young girl?" Serra paused for a moment. "Wait… a young girl? What kind of bandits are these anyway?"

"Fool!" Erk snapped, "Keep your voice down! And get back into cover before they see you and decide you're a target!"

"Too late!" Serra sing-songed as one of the bandits tore away from the main group and headed in their direction.

"Hurry get back down, maybe they haven't seen us yet-"

"You two!" The bandits shouted. "Who are you? Are you in league with that she-devil?"

Serra quickly walked out of the bushes, strode up to the bandit, and bonked him in the head with her stave. "Who do you think _you_ are? Ganging up on a girl? What kind of honor is that? Have you no shame?"

"Serra!" Erk shouted, jumping from the bushes and rushing forward. "This is so wrong…"

"Whaa!" The bandit covered his head to protected against the repeated bonks to the head before he swung outward with his axe. The flat of the blade knocked Serra back and onto the ground. When she looked back up again, the bandit was standing over her, hefting his axe high above his head. "I'll take care of you with one swift stroke!"

"Fire!"

The bandit was suddenly blasted backwards by a ball of fire almost as large as he was. His large form landed on the ground with a loud thud, but he was quickly moving to get back onto his feet. Erk ran up to Serra and attempted to puller to her feet.

Attempted, because she practically scrambled up and onto his back, all the while screeching, "Eeeeeeek! Eeeeeeek! Eeeeeeek! Erk! Help! Help me!" By the time he got her back onto the ground, read: threw her to the ground, the bandit had already gotten back to his feet. He was shaking his head, mumbling about how loud she was when she shouted, "Erk! Behind you!"

He spun out of the way at the last second, barely missing having his arm chopped off. Instead he received along gash stretching from his shoulder to just above his wrist. With a quick dash backwards, Erk put some distance between himself and the bandit. "So you think you can take me on?" he muttered under his breath. The bandit grunted and started advancing again. "Well then show me what you got!"

With the rush that always came with the summoning of magic from the ether, Erk traced the incantation for the fire spell into the air. It was the most basic of all spells, one any mage worth his salt could cast from memory. Few at his level of mastery, however, were capable of summoning such a large amount of Mana to fuel the spell.

He smirked triumphantly as the summoning circle started glowing around his feet. The Mana burst forth and an especially dense fireball formed above his head. With a flick of his wrist he directed it at the bandit. While the bandit could see it coming, he couldn't dodge it, and the fireball exploded on impact, the sudden outburst of Mana and fire engulfing the man, burning him to death.

A short distance away, hidden by a grove of trees, Lloyd stirred, reacting to the high amount of Mana that had just been used nearby. Although he didn't wake up, the familiar whoosh of energy made him moan and move slightly, just enough to catch Lyn's attention from where she stood, locked in battle with one of the bandits.

The vile group of men had ambushed them just a day after they'd emerged from the Bern Mountains. Kent had thought that they made it through to Lycia safely, but then the bandits appeared. And to make matters worse, it had looked like they had plenty of time to dig themselves in. It didn't take long nor many words for the attack to start. Florina had taken to the sky but the bandits had several archers with them so she had limited use. There were many trees and short hills around the valley, so Wil didn't have clear shots more than one hundred yards. Kent and Sain were doing well, flanking the bandits that approached, but there were too many to stop all of them. That left Lyn and Dorcas to pick up the slack and to guard Lloyd's unconscious body. While Dorcas engaged two axe wielding bandits a distance away, Lyn had been standing further back, closer to Lloyd incase the bandits discovered him and tried to use him as a hostage.

That's when she was jumped. This bandit managed to break past Kent and Sain, ignored the arrow that Wil sunk into his shoulder like it was an annoying insect, and charged right up to Lyn, axe swinging.

She had little time to think about how he got so close, and really wasn't all that surprised that he had, as she dodged the first blow by merely stepping to the side. True, the impact of the blow into the earth made her jump a few inches from the ground, but she still had her footing, and she didn't intend to give this meat-wall of a man a second chance at attacking.

She took two long, quick steps forward, unsheathing her swords a she moved and spun around, using the her body as a fulcrum to power her blow. The end result was a long, gaping slice through the bandit's midsection out of which sprayed a fountain of blood, putting a red mist into the air.

But the man wasn't dead yet. He roared and heaved, pulling the axe from the earth and forcing more of his life fluid from his side. He completely ignored the wound and swung at Lyn again. That was when she heard Lloyd.

The distraction cost her, her mind going blank when the flat of the ax whipped into her gut and sent her flying into the bushes. She landed rough and slid for a few seconds, sending up dust. When she opened her eyes she saw Lloyd next to her. It seemed the bandit had tossed her right over to him.

"Lloyd?" she croaked, not really expecting an answer. She knew he had over a day left before he said he would wake up, but she hoped that perhaps he'd sense she was in danger, like all those other times, and save her. But what happened instead was she pushed herself up with a grunt and stabbed the tip of the Mani Katti into the earth to help stay standing. Her stomach muscles ached and she was having a hard time breathing since the blow had knocked her breath away, but otherwise she was fine.

"Lyn!" she heard someone screech. But she paid it no mind as she focused to block out the pain and finish off this seething mass of bandit.

The bandit swung his axe, chopping through two solid trees. Lyn ducked, groaning loudly as her muscles cramped and the axe blade whooshed past her head, just missing her ponytail. Reacting on instinct, she pushed up with her legs and swung the Mani Katti upwards, slicing up through the bandit from the side of his leg to the center of his chest where the blade stopped moving.

Her strength sapped, she fell back wards onto the ground next to Lloyd. She watched as the bandit swung his axe over his head to strike, then look down at the bloody hole that the sword standing out from his chest had made. Then his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell backwards, landing on the ground with a dull thump.

Lyn groaned and released a deep sigh. This was turning out to be a lot harder than she thought it would be. Where did all these vile men come from? A groan from beside her caught her interest. She glanced at Lloyd and then stared in shock as he yawned and his eyes then slowly began to open. Before she had a chance to linger on the miracle she felt she was bearing witness to, another bandit appeared, and the sight of his comrade impaled by the Mani Katti enraged him to the point that he charged blindly forward.

Erk grinned once the bandit had finished burning, but winced and clung to his arm as the wound pulsed painfully. Serra raised her staff above the bleeding injury. "Heal." She stated simply, smiling when the spell healed the wound on the arm. "There. All better. Now, let's go hel-"  
"AAAAUUGGGG!"

"Oh, look Erk, that girl and her companion are under attack!" Serra noticed the writhing brunet male on the ground instantly and began tugging on Erk's arm. "I order you to go help her!" Before Erk could object, the pink haired cleric had already bounded towards Lyn and Lloyd.

"Troublesome ..." Erk sighed as he ran after his charge. He watched, somewhat amazed, as Lyn leaped to her feet, grabbed and pulled the sword from the chest of the downed bandit, and engaged the new one attacking them.

He readied a spell to fire at the man's back, which would at least distract him long enough for the girl to finish him, but he needn't have bothered. Lyn parried the first blow of the axe wielding bandit, with a haphazard counter blow he noted, and then leaped forward and stabbed the man straight into the neck.

He had to admit, even though she was clearly exhausted, she went straight for the man's weak spot and still had enough strength to deliver a killing blow. Those corded neck muscles of the bandit weren't made of rice paper, after all. He stopped his mental chanting and jogged over to where Serra and Lyn were.

"Hello there," Serra said. "Allow me to be of assistance. I am a cleric. Let my healing powers wash over you and cleanse your wounds." Serra muttered her incantation and waved her wand around in front of Lyn. The gem on the end of the staff lit up and Lyn was bathed in a green-white light. When all was done, Lyn looked better than before. Refreshed even.

"Th-thank you," Lyn said. "I didn't expect to find a cleric all the way out here. But we will have time for pleasantries after these bandits are taken care of. Please, can you do something for my friend here? He's not well and needs help."

"Of course. I'm Serra the Great after all. Allow me to work my magic and he'll be good as new. Better even. Erk! Guard me while I work." Serra then knelt next to Lloyd, who was gazing about drunkenly and mumbling to himself. She scanned him over and giggled. "Wow, so handsome," Serra said as she lifted her staff and began her chant.

"Excuse me?" Lyn said, taking a step forward. Erk grabbed her by the arm to stop her.

"I'm sorry about my companion, miss. She can be abhorrently rude sometimes." Erk apologized, bowing to Lyn.

"I am not rude, Erk!" Serra objected through her incantation. She lifted Lloyd's head so that it settled in her lap. Holding her staff so that it rested above Lloyd's head, the cleric cast her Heal spell again. It had little effect on the hammered man. "Hmm, perhaps something a bit stronger… he must have drunk quite a bit to get this bad."

"But he wasn't…" Lyn started, but then she paused and shook her head. "No. I'm not exactly sure what he did. Can you help him?"

Serra nodded, mostly her herself, and said, "Yes, I can help this dashing man. Who better than such a damsel of beauty like myself to do so?" She then set to casting her spell again.

Erk moaned into his hands. "I really do apologize. She's… insufferable." Pointing to himself and then to Serra who was fawning over Lloyd's face, he said, "My name is Erk and that she-devil is Lady Serra of Ostia."

Lloyd's eyes flickered in response to the Mana being cast on his body. "He's mostly conscious, but whatever he was drinking did quite a number on him." Serra stated after the glow diminished, her purple eyes looking the unconscious man over. "He's not hurt physically, though."

"… Ma … Mana …" Lloyd's voice came out as a mumble, his eyes flickering again. "Where … flickering … Uhnnngggg …." Groaning, the brunet raised a hand to his forehead, his eyes slowly opening to reveal their wine red depths. "Where … where am I? This isn't the fortress we were all in last …" Feeling cloth beneath his head, Lloyd blinked again, his eyesight struggling to focus. When it finally settled to show him Serra, Erk, and Lyn watching him, he blinked once more before letting out a tired sigh. "Lyn, I _warned _you that I would be unconscious for three days before I cast the spell …" He began, only to cut off in a yelp as Lyn pulled him into a tight hug.

"You jerk, you scared me half to death!" Lyn couldn't have felt more relieved if she had tried. Yes, even with the warning from Lloyd that he would be out cold for so long, it had still scared her. "Next time you do that sort of stunt, give me fair warning so I don't have a heart attack when you pass out!"

"I … I did warn you …" Lloyd sighed in defeat, returning the hug Lyn was giving him until it hurt to breathe. "Lungs … can't … get … .air!" Realizing that she was inadvertently crushing her tactician and mentor, Lyn hastily let Lloyd go and sat up, a blush gracing her cheeks for the briefest of moments as Lloyd brushed himself off and stood, looking around. "Where are we?"

"I'm sure you've noticed the bandits by now, so I can skip telling you that we're in trouble," Lyn said. She was about to continue when Lloyd grimaced and gasped a deep lungful of air. "Lloyd! What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Lloyd said as he shook his head and forced himself to stand back up straight. "I… just don't think I can remain awake for much longer. Whatever spell that was… who cast it anyway? I wasn't aware we had any spell casters in the group?"

"That would be me, my Mr. Perfect Knight!" Serra announced loudly. Stars shined brightly in her eyes as she watched Lloyd unflinchingly with a wholly unsettling grin stuck on her face.

Lloyd's expression slowly changed from one of shock to the guarded look one gives to a crazy person who has blood all over them and is holding an axe behind their back. Erk moaned into his hands. He quickly reached out and grabbed Serra's shoulder.

"Would you-"

Erk never saw the staff coming until his nose had burst into an explosion of blood. Serra continued to bludgeon Erk's face with her staff until it was completely crimson. Any attempted to defend himself was swatted away by the attacking Heal Staff.

Once Serra was satisfied with her work, she held the staff out in front of Erk's face. Erk by this time was clearly unconscious. Through the blood that now covered the staff, Lloyd saw a green glow that he recognized as a First-Aid spell. The green glow spread over Erk's face as Serra said, "Heal."

Once the green Mana was gone, Erk blinked a couple of times and once he'd gotten his faculties back, pushed Serra away and scrambled backwards. In his haste to put distance between himself and the insane healer, his foot caught his cape and he fell to the ground. Serra crossed her arms and grinned cheekily down at Erk, who was now scowling most fowl at her.

"See, I'm a Priestess of Elimine.," she said and turned to Lloyd and Lyn, who both stared with wide eyed shock at what had just happened in front of them. Though, Lloyd had to admit, it reminded him of Raine in a disturbing way. "And the gentleman, who volunteered to be my assistant, is actually my bodyguard escorting this wonderful and vulnerable priestess to Ostia."

"Ostia… is in the other direction," Lyn said, pointing back at the cave that the two had come from.

Kent and Sain rode up the four, Dorcas and Wil not far behind them. Most of the bandits in the field were gone, their bodies sometimes visible in the tall grass that covered the valley floor. When they were close enough Kent said, "Sir Lloyd is awake and it would appear we have acquired two guests. Our fortunes appear to be turning for the better."

"Oh my, but what beauty I behold," Sain began. Kent didn't get a chance to smack his partner before Sain urged Romeo toward Serra. "Pray tell, fair maiden, what your name might be?"

"Oh my," Serra said as she swooned. Erk rolled his eyes and stood up from where he'd falling. He kept the distance between him and Serra and brushed the dirt and leaves from his robes. "Two fair knights in one place… Though you cannot compare to my Mr. Perfect Knight."

Sain grinned roguishly. "Tell me who this perfect knight is, and I shall best him, earning your heart and glory."

Serra sanguinely zoomed over to Lloyd, attached herself to his arm, and started rubbing her head on his shoulder. After a moment or two of this, Lloyd pried her off of him with a surprisingly strong grip. Sain watched all of this with a falling expression until he glumly turned Romeo around and sulked away.

"Why didn't I ever think of that," Kent mused. Lyn, who was standing behind Lloyd, had gone from her normal complexion to a very red complexion as Serra continued to try and latch onto Lloyd while he continued to push her away. Before she could make another attempt she inserted herself between the two and unleashed a glare at Serra.

"Leave Lloyd alone," she said. "I'm thankful for all that you've done, but we don't even know you. And besides that, Lloyd's not in the best shape right now, if you haven't noticed."

"Oh?" Serra looked Lloyd up and down again and said, "I'll just heal him again then."

"No, we'll be fine without your help," Lyn said.

"How many more bandits are left," Lloyd asked Kent. Wil and Dorcas walked up next to the two and listened in. Meanwhile, Serra and Lyn continued to argue.

"Oh, but how can you be fine if one of you is injured," Serra argued. "You should let me heal him so he'll be okay."

"Maybe twenty more men, further down the valley," Kent said. "There appears to be a small village of sorts that they've holed up in."

"And I just told you we would be fine without your help," Lyn bit out. "We. Don't. Need. Your. Help."

"Florina is up in the sky right now scouting the area ahead out," Wil said. "She said that during the battle here, she didn't see any archers. There's also a lake to the south of here next the village on the other side of this forest."

"Now you're being foolish," Serra said. "Why would you not want to go into battle in tip top condition? I'm sure my Mr. Perfect Knight would want to be in top fighting form before going into battle."

"I don't think I'm going to be of much help in this battle," Lloyd said. He wobbled slightly but remained on his feet. "I still haven't recharged enough of my Mana to stay awake for much longer. Still, the village concerns me. They could have dug in or taken hostages, which will require a lot of skill to negotiate safely."

"He's not _your_Mr. _Perfect Knight_!"

"Yes," said Sain. He rode up to the group of men and halted Romeo. "We wouldn't want a repeat of the last hostage situation, now would we?" Everyone but Erk, who'd edged away from the two arguing women to be included in the more civil conversation, suddenly became tense and distraught at the same time. He arched an eyebrow and let the topic die without asking, assuming that the last hostage situation they'd all been involved with had ended badly.

"Oh, but he's so handsome and gallant! A thousand beautiful maidens had their hearts broken before me, all denied by his stoic grace. But I shall not be denied for he's smitten with the most beautiful Priestess from Ostia."

"Wil filled me in on what happened," Dorcas said, "and I think that this situation might be better. I recalled seeing a group of villagers fleeing as we entered the valley. I'm thinking that they all escaped in time and they are hiding safely."

"Would you get over yourself and leave Lloyd alone! He's not yours to do with as you please. It's not like you were even in his life first. What makes you think you can come up to him and suddenly become so important?"

"Based on what you've told me," Lloyd said. He paused, blinked slowly, and grabbed onto Dorcas' strong arm. Wil went to his other side and helped hold him up. "I don't… have much time left. Wil, you and Dorcas go through the forest while Kent and Sain head around the woods through the plains. Catch the bandits… between the… two sides and take them out that… way…"

"Oh my…. Are you? You like him too, don't you?" Serra watched as Lyn's flush face grew brighter red. Lyn took a step back as Serra grinned maliciously. "You do like him!"

"No… it's not like that!" Lyn said quickly. "He's my master. I'm his student! I'm honor bound to defend him… especially from the likes of people such as you!"

"Oh, I see how it is," Serra said, ignoring Lyn's insult. "You became his student and fell in love? How quaint!" Serra began laughing.

"No!" Lyn shouted. "You're wrong!"

"Oh, don't worry," Serra said. "I won't take him from you right away. But rest assured, I shall win his heart in the end, my rival in love!"

"Uh, ladies," Erk said.

"What?" Both shouted in unison and turned their heads toward the group of men. As soon as they saw that Lloyd was unconscious again, they ran forward. Lyn moved up to Lloyd as Wil and Dorcas laid him onto the ground. She smacked him on his face a couple times, but he was out cold. Serra raised her staff, but Lyn grabbed it and pushed it away.

"No," Lyn said. "He told us that we should wait three days, and there's only one left. You already said there's nothing wrong with him physically, so we will wait this time. Besides, if you heal him again, he'll only fall back unconscious before too long and we won't be able to focus on battle."

Serra sighed. "If you say so. Erk, I order you to stand guard over this specimen of perfect manliness. The rest of us will go and finish off these bandits."

"What?" Erk shouted. "How did I get involved in all this?"

"I would feel a lot better if someone would stay with Lloyd," Lyn said. "I'd like to personally make sure these bastards haven't hurt anyone in that village. And also, I can't believe that they're just following me on their honor, or lack of it."

"We've already proved more than they seem able to handle," Sain said, nodding as he said so.

"Something must be driving them at us," Wil mused. "I wonder what that might be? I've never seen bandits in these parts riled up so much as to chase one person all the way through Bern."

"Aaaah! Huey!"

All eyes turned to the sky only for everyone to immediately turn and bolt as Huey came zooming by. Florina was nearly thrown as the winged horse landed roughly with a sideways jerk and immediately started trotting forward. He used his wings to push him faster until he was next to Lloyd when he stopped and began sniffing the brown hair on top of his head.

"Huey, you're very bad! I told you Lloyd's not awake yet!"

The white Pegasi snorted, ruffling Lloyd's hair slightly. Huey, deciding that Lloyd was indeed not awake, turned to the side and started munching on some greens growing right next to his head. Florina mumbled something under her breath as she scrambled to dismount and started tending to one of several long red streaks along Huey's flanks.

"I'm sorry Lyn," Florina said as the others, save Kent and Sain, got back to their feet and moved closer. Kent and Sain instead backed their mounts away to give Huey a bit more room. "I couldn't stay up in the air any longer. There were too many archers for me to get any closer than flying over the middle of that lake on the other side of the forest and they were firing arrows and rocks and exploding bombs and-"

Florina stiffened when Lyn placed her hand on her shoulder. Her shaking hands hovered over one of the pulsing wounds on her mount's side. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw Lyn wasn't disappointed.

"You don't think I did the wrong thing do you?" she asked. Abandoning your mission was tantamount to failure in Illia. "I… I failed. I didn't finish scouting the area out. I-"

"I'm just happy that you're safe, Florina," Lyn said. She pulled Florina into a hug and felt the tension release from her friend's body. "I'd rather have you safe than lose you to some stupid arrow. Since Huey's been injured, you should stay here and care for him. And watch after Lloyd. All the bandits in this area have been taken care of so you shouldn't need to worry about being ambushed, but be careful anyway. We're going to go and head out to the village and get the rest of them. Okay?"

Florina smiled and nodded. She turned away from Lyn and started working on Huey again. Huey snorted, fluffed his wings slightly and swished his tail as he continued to munch on the grass.

Lyn turned at the same time as Florina and started walking away from the encampment. Everyone else fell in line, Sain taking up the rear as he flirted one last time with Florina before catching up.

"What did Lloyd say?" Lyn asked.  
"He suggested a diversionary force should take the long route to the village through the valley around the forest, picking off any stragglers we missed on the way," Kent said. "Meanwhile, a small strike force should sneak through the forest and attack the village from the other side at about the same time as the diversionary force."

"Any plan that my Perfect Knight came up with is a Perfect Plan," Serra said. "So of course we shall execute it. It is too bad he is not awake now to tell me which force I should join…" Erk quickly grabbed Serra's arm and dragged her to the back of the group.

"Sain and Kent should definitely go on the diversionary force," Lyn said. "Dorcas, you should go as well. Anyone who doesn't pay attention to someone like you bearing down on them with an axe is insane."

"As your body guard I highly recommend not doing this," Erk said quietly.

"It would be unladylike to leave these helpless commoners in such a position, I simply cannot leave now," Serra said. "Erk, I order you to help too."

"Lady Serra, Mr. Erk," Lyn said. "Are you with us, or are you staying here. You're not part of our group so I can't really tell you where you should go."

Serra nodded with a smile, cheerfully hoisting her Heal staff into the air. "I'll be going with you, since I'm awfully delicate. A lady such as myself has no business in direct combat anyway."

Lyn nodded. "Thank you for your assistance," she said, "your healing powers will certainly be useful." Then Lyn turned to Erk. "And what about you, Mr. Erk? What will you do?"

Serra laughed lightly. "It's his job to make sure I'm safe, so of course he'll help as well."

Erk rolled his eyes and grudgingly nodded. "Despite how much I wish it were not, I am in her employ, so I have no choice at this point. Large fireballs flying at you tend to catch a lot of attention, so I'll be of more use with the diversionary force."

Lyn bowed. "Thank you for your assistance."

* * *

REKKA OMAKE! Lloyd is normal, Dorcas is **bold**, Lyn is _italic, _and Wil is underlined.

"A little much …"

So, what all did I miss while I was gone?  
_Well, you've met Dorcas, right?  
_**That he has.  
**Mm-hm. Anything happen besides some bandit problems?  
Well, we've finally come up with something to call the group.  
**The group needs a name?  
**That was going to be my next question. *facepalm* Dare I ask what it is we're now called?  
Lyndis' Legions.  
Oh Martel … *exasperated*  
_Don't look at me, I was gone when they agreed on it. *facepalm*  
_**That sounds more like the name of a mercenary group than anything … **

* * *

_Li: _So sorry that this took so long to get out! I blame college for eating MOST of my soul. What little of my soul it didn't eat got absorbed by Persona. … Both 3 (FES) AND 4 …

Anyway, review please!


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